Who Never Left My Side
by ocdwithlhg
Summary: [Complete] FINAL CHAPTER UP! Strictly a LL piece. Post S4 finale. What happens when she finally realizes what's right for her. Or should I say who? It's the beginning of a relationship with lots of potential. RR please! -THANKS TO MY REVIEWERS-
1. The Tangent Truths

Authors Note: This is my first fan fiction story. I started a similar one, but I stopped using that email, so I had to start this over. It's just about all focused on Luke and Lorelai, and take's place right after the season 4 finale; "Raincoats and Recipes." It's the beginning of a great relationship with a lot of potential. At some point, I might throw in some people or things that have to do with season 5. We'll see how it goes! Read and Review please! Always appreciated. Enjoy! :o)

Just a Reminder: Of course I don't own any of these characters, they are all owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino.  
  
Chapter One: The Tangent Truths.

Lorelai walked over to Rory, and sat down next to her on the steps of their porch. She put her arm around her and they both sat in silence for a few seconds while Rory continued sobbing.

Lorelai was unsure of where they stood at the moment, but she knew being there for her was right. She pulled Rory into a hug, and they sat there for a few more seconds while Rory cried on Lorelais' shoulder.  
  
"I don't mean to be the bad guy and ruin this ever so loving moment we are having here, but you do realize you are crying on my shoulder, and a lot of times people say, "I want to be the shoulder you can cry on" and I never really pictured you being the one in this place. Personally, I always pictured some hot guy, but hey-no complaints with who I have now," Lorelai said trying to ease the moment.

Rory giggled, and wiped her eyes, her crying was slowing down. "And as much as I don't want to be the one in ths position, I don't think you'll find a hot guy on your shoulder. Not even a normal guy, because guys don't cry. It would crush their image," Rory said sarcastically.

"Ouch–way to ruin my dreams. Whatever...hey...let's go inside, and talk for a little bit before I have to run back to this inn. What do you say?"

"I say as long as it's warmer in there, let's go," Rory replied.

Both girls stood up, and walked into the house. Rory went and sat on the coach while Lorelai went into the kitchen and grabbed the red vines. She walked back to the couch and sat next to Rory. They both were eating the red vines in silence but that didn't last too long.

"Listen...I didn't mean all of the things I said. I didn't mean to make it look like you were the bd guy, or the one who, 'did it first' but I was just really caught up in the moment, and back there I was just really upset because I realized what you said is true, I'm going to end up emotionally involved in this, and I was the one who made the dumb move in the first place..." Rory said.

"Rory, I love you. And you know I didn't mean to criticize you, or hurt you, but I just wanted to let you know right off the bat of the circumstances you were getting yourself into. I didn't want you to get hurt, and I was just trying to warn you as far in advance as possible. You know I wouldn't want to make you mad, but sometimes, you've got to take those risks."

"I know, mom. And thanks. Because you really made me realize what I did was wrong, and as much as I don't want to admit it, you made me realize how right you are. We all know you love hearing those words, but let's not kill the moment with some smirk comment on how I just said you're right."

"Hmm..I'm right!" Lorelai said smiling to Rory.

"Enough with obsessing over yourself." Rory said sarcastically.

"So, are we okay? Is everything going to be okay? Eventually I mean..." Lorelai asked.

"Yes, we're good. And eventually everything will be okay, maybe just not now." Rory began. "So, why exactly are you here in the first place? Not like I want you to leave, but what did you come here to get. I heard you talking to "me" when you were getting the band-aids. Something about I'm missing everything?

"Uhh...yeah, well Kirk ran out of the Inn naked, and Luke had to chase after him..." Lorelai said, giggling to herself. "It was a really unpleasant sight, but I'm just thinking about how LUKE of all people had to chase after him. Poor, poor, man. I'm sure he is scared for his life."

"Why did Luke run after him? Why didn't one of the other people with you guys run after him? No offense to Luke or anything, but I wouldn't take him for the guy to run after naked Kirk."   
  
"Rory, I think now is a good time to tell you. Luke and Kirk...well, they've been dating." Lorelai said kiddingly.

"Real funny..." Rory said non-amused. "But really, why did Luke run after him?"

"Oh, Luke and I were the only one's around at the time...you know I would never do that, and Luke just ran before saying anything to me other than he'll explain later, so I'm sure there's a good reasoning to this, maybe, Kirk and Luke are these secret spies, and it was just an excuse to leave the premises because they didn't want anybody to know that they were going to see what was going on in the gazebo tonight! You never know what goes on these days..."

"What were you and Luke doing?" Rory said curiously. "After all, it's getting pretty late, were you begging him to go in the kitchen and make you coffee or something stupid like that?" Rory asked.

"Uhh..nope. No coffee for me."

"Words that we should record and play over and over to you before you fall asleep every night." Rory said.

Lorelai just sat there, looking at the coffee table, not concentrating on Rory. She was just sitting there, thinking about the kiss, and wondering what was going on between the two of them.

"Mom! Moooom...LORELAI GILMORE! What in the world are you doing? Did you not hear one word I just said?" Rory asked.

"Uh..no, sorry babe. My minds on something else." Lorelai bit her tounge, trying to stop what just came out because she really didn't want to tell Rory about how her and Luke kissed. Her cheeks turned red a little bit, but she automatically tried to change the subject before Rory could get a word in. "I think that we should get a coffee vending machine in our kitchen. I mean, sure it might take a few strong men to bring into the house, but I think that without a doubt it would be the greatest investment we've ever made in our lives."

"What's on your mind, mom? You're stalling. I know there's something you want to tell me. Actually, I'm pretty sure you DON'T want to tell me because you were talking about something being on your mind, and now you're talking about installing a coffee vending machine in our kitchen. So what is it because you have to tell me now. You can't forget our rule." Rory said.

"Our rule?" Lorelai asked unsure of what Rory was talking about.

"What do you mean our rule? You we're the one who made up the crazy rule. The, 'once-you-start-saying-something-you-have-to-finish-rule.' You know what I'm talking about, so you might as well just tell me. GO. I'm listening." Rory impatiently said.

"Rory, we kissed." Lorelai said.

"Who?! You and Kirk? Mom, you phsyco! I know technically, after played 1..2..3 he's yours! Kirk is my new daddy, but honestly, why would you pull a sick move like that?" Rory asked.

"Rory! I didn't say I kissed Kirk," Lorelai said impatiently, "I didn't say I kissed Kirk. I kissed Luke. Well, he kissed me. But then I kissed him, didn't I?" Lorelai asked herself, "But that doesn't matter because it's not like one of us is the bad guy in this situation. Actually, maybe he thinks that I am because he didn't want to kiss me? But I don't know if I wanted to kiss him and well I never really pictured any of this happening but who knows, maybe we"...Lorelai started rambling but Rory cut her off.

"Stop your rambling, drama queen. What in the world do you mean you kissed Luke? That's all I want to know."

"I don't know what I mean. I just know that it happened. He was telling me how Jason said that we were still dating, and then he got all defensive and told me how he thought we were on the same page, and that I knew what he was doing, which I did, but he wouldn't let me get a word in, and then he started talking about how we had a moment when he walked me home the other night, and before I know it, he's about to lean in and kiss me. So I asked what he was doing because of course I got a little nervous since I never pictured this happening, and he told me to stand still, and then he kissed me. I pulled away, and then I was going in to kiss him again, and he asked what I was doing, and this time I said stand still, and we kissed again. Then I pulled away again, and we were about to kiss for a third time, but Kirk came running down." Lorelai said, out of breath and confused.

"Good thing you were at a hotel, so you could actually, 'get a room!'" Rory said laughing to herself, thinking that she was quite funny.

"Rory! This is very serious! I don't know what's happening between us!"

"I know, where in the world did this all come from? I can't believe you kissed Luke!"

"Hey, he kissed me first, I thought I made that clear the first time!" Lorelai said defensively.

"Well, who know's. Mom, do you like Luke like that? Not to sound all middle-school on you, but you know what I mean. Is this...well, is this what...what, you want? To be with...Luke." Rory had trouble saying the words, but they eventually came out.

"Care to studder a little more, hun? I don't know if this is what I want. It all happened to fast. I can't even remember if he wanted to kiss me again for the third time, I don't know if this is what he wants. I want to forget it all happened, but that's impossible, and I don't know what to say to him when I see him, what if he doesn't serve me coffee anymore? That'll be the end of the world as we know it, but I need my coffee, and coffee's more important than anything, and yes this is what I want! I want there to be something, and I want him to want something to be there. Wow, I can't believe I just said I want Luke."

"You want Luke..." Rory said cautiously.

"I want Luke..." Lorelai practiced saying.

"I want to get back to the Inn is what I want. As much as I'd love to continue this oh-so-exciting conversation, I have an inn-full of people, those words sounds firmiliar. I said that to–Oh gosh! JASON IS AT THE INN. He's still there, I suppose, and I want him to leave, and oh man, I've got to go! Rory, are you coming with me? I need you to be with me! I know you're going through things, but I am too, and I need you to be next to me at all times, I need you to be one of those conjoined at the hip kind of twins. Please say you're coming." Lorelai begged.

"Sure I don't want to be going to the Inn right about now, no offense to you, but I guess I don't want to see Jason stand in the way of you and Luke because even though I was questioning it earlier, I think that whatever you want is the best, and you should get what you want without any distractions." Rory said.

"Oh if only more people were as considerate and charming as you..." Lorelai said.

"I learn to be with an insane mother like you. Now let's go before I change my mind."

The girls grabbed there coats, and hoped in the Jeep and drove in silence to the Inn. Lorelai was thinking about the kiss, and Rory was thinking about how she didn't want to go to the Inn right now. She wanted to be there for her mom though because she knew how important and exciting this was for her, and Rory too, but she couldn't get her mind off Dean. She didn't want to be selfish and stay at home though.

Right before they pulled into the driveway of the Inn, Lorelai suddenly felt very nervous. She was scared of who would be up, and if Jason would still be there, and if Luke would be back from chasing Kirk. Her mind was a blurr but she knew she was going to have to face everybody sooner of later.

"Here we are..." Lorelai said nonchalantly, even though that was the opposite of how she was feeling.

"Mom...thank you. Thank's for the things you said to me tonight. Thank's for caring about me." Rory said completely avoiding eye contact from her mother.

"Look at me kid–Oh, wait, you're 19, sorry. I love you, and I just want what's best for you. Let's just put this all behind us for the moment, and focus on the better things that are happening right now."

"Like you and Luke?" Rory said excitingly.

"Rory. I don't know what I want. I'm so nervous right now, I don't want to see anybody right now. I'm just scared of what he wants, and what I want. And then there's Jason. Oh gosh..I really don't want to see him right now." Lorelai said dryly.

"That's why I'm here with you. Let's go."

The girls got out of the car and walked together arm in arm up the steps, and stood there for a few seconds. Lorelai finally got the strength and opened the door. They walked in the Inn as quiet as possible. At first, they didn't see anybody but then out of nowhere Jason popped up.

"Lorelai, we need to talk right now. It's very important." Jason said in a very controlling tone.

"Jason, now is not the time. Right now, I need you to leave. I need you to go home, and I promise I'll talk to you when I'm done with the test run. I'm not in a very civil mood right now, and I don't think talking to you is the best thing to do. It might turn out like the time when I told my mother that she looked like one of the girls from hair spray after she got her hair done–but that's another story. So, I think it's best that you leave right now. Me and Rory are going upstairs, so I'll call you as soon as I get the chance." Lorelai said, very confident that he'd leave, but sure enough he had more to say.

"Lorelai, I love you." Jason said last minute before the girls walked up the stairs.

"No he didn't. Did he just say he loves me?" Lorelai whispered to Rory.

"He just said he loves you." Rory said quietly back, afraid that Jason would hear them.

"Lorelai, ever since we were friends when we were kids, although I don't think you liked me very much since you used to throw mud at me, I have always had a thing for you, and the last 6 months of my life have been incredible and...I love you. I want to be with you, Lorelai." Jason said with a nervous tone in his voice. He didn't know how she'd react.

"Jason. You did not just tell me you love me. If you loved me so much you wouldn't be suing my family.

"Which is why I'm dropping the law suit. I'm not suing your father anymore. I've realized that if I want to be with you, that's not going make it work. I love you, and I'm doing this for you."

Lorelai stood there in disbelief for a few minutes. She couldn't believe that Jason just said he loves her. Sure they have been dating for 6 months, but this has never come up before. The words Jason and love never even came close to crossing in the same sentence. She started to think about what he said. She liked hearing him say he loves her. She didn't know what to do. Luke. She thought about Luke, and suddenly snapped back into reality.

"Jason, I'm sorry but I can't be with you. I don't want to hurt you, but I don't want to be with you Jason. I can't say much more."

"Why?"

"Why what?" Lorelai asked with a questioning tone.

"Why can't you love me? Is it because you love somebody else? Is it because you kissed Luke? Were the past 6 months just a joke to you?"

"What are you talking about? Did you see Luke and I kiss? Why were you watching us in the first place? And what do you mean a joke? Of course not. I loved being with you for the past 6 months, but over the past week or two, I've realized a lot of things about myself, and who I want to be with, and Jason, I can't deal with this anymore. Goodbye." Lorelai said, shaking her head. She grabbed Rory, and started walking up the stairs, and finally they were out of Jason's sight. They stood at the top of the stairs, and watched Jason leave.

A sudden sigh of relief exited Lorelais body.

"Wow." Rory said.

"Wow." Lorelai repeated.

The girls walked down to room 6. Lorelai looked across the hall at room 7. Lucky room 7. She wasn't sure if Luke was in there, but she didn't think that now was the time to try and find him. She was tired, and she just wanted to go to bed, so she unlocked her room, and the girls settled into there PJ's and went to sleep.

It took Lorelai a long time before she could fall asleep though. She was lying down, staring at the ceiling and thinking about Luke. She wasn't sure if he was who she wanted. She continued thinking for over an hour, when she finally came to the conclusion that after all these years, she's had a thing for Luke, and now it's suddenly showing. Before, she wouldn't allow herself to like Luke because he was always the give-me-coffee-right- now kind of Luke. She smiled to herself, thinking about him and how she wants to be with him. But she didn't know what he wanted, so waiting till tomorrow was the next step.

To Be Continued. Up Next: Delicious Dining's and Dates.


	2. Delicious Dinings and Dates

A/N: I'm not sure if anybody is reading this, but if so please review so I should know if I should continue updating! Thanks! :o)

Just A Reminder: Of course I don't own any of these silly characters!

Chapter Two: Delicious Dinings and Dates

Around 6:15, Lorelai woke up. The first thing that came to her mind was that she'd see Luke at breakfast in 2 hours. She was so excited for some reason. She went in the shower, and started rummaging through her clothes.

"Rory. Get up! It's 6:40. I need you to give me your opinion. Do you think I should wear something 'cute' or 'flirty' or something that says, 'I want you.' What am I talking about? How forward could I be so quickly? I mean, I don't want to look eas"--

"MOM. I love you, but you need to get help. I don't need to be up right now, and I'm not going to be up right now. Wear whatever you want to wear because I could honestly careless what my insane mother is going to be wearing at 6:40 in the morning. Go bug somebody else, please." Rory said, cutting Lorelai off. She was tired, and angry.

"You love me. You know you want to help me." Lorelai jumped on the bed, and pulled the sheets off of Rory. She grabbed her pillow and starting brushing her fingers through Rory's hair. "Rory, I swear to God if you don't get up in the next minute, I'm going to go and get Kirk to pose naked for you, and with our luck, I'm sure he'll already be ready."

"You...are sick. I'm up. And I'm going in the shower, where you can't talk to me." Rory said, grumpily.

"Someone hit you with the sweet stick." Lorelai said sarcastically. "And by the way, I decided to wear my cute black, flippy, skirt. You know, the skirt that you really like. But I haven't completely decided on a shirt, I'm thinking something low cut, but I'm always open for options!" Lorelai yelled right before Rory walked in the bathroom.

"You're a slut." Rory said, somewhat kidding.

"You're funny." Lorelai responded.

20 minutes later, Rory came out of the shower, dressed, and ready to leave the room. Lorelai was sitting on the bed in her skirt and a bra. She wasn't sure what shirt to wear. She was contemplating between 3 shirts. One was a violet long sleeve shirt that had a belt around it. The other was a light green tee shirt, with a light pink layer over it so that you could see just the right amount of both colors, and the third was a plain yellow tee shirt.

"The green and pink one. It say's, hi, I'm skinny and I can wear layers correctly, oh and I'm also cute. Especially at 7 in the morning." Rory said in a sarcastic tone.

"Just what I was thinking." Lorelai said and nodded in approval.

"So, who exactly are you trying to look so cute for? I don't think Kirk needs you to flaunt yourself to get him naked. He obviously seems like a very willing person."

"The day that I try and look 'cute' for Kirk is the day that I quit drinking coffee."

"Wow, I think I'm gong to hold those words against you." Rory said giggling to herself.

"Oh yeah...Luke. Did you figure out how you feel about him?" Rory asked. "I stayed up an extra hour last night thinking about what I want, and I don't know what exactly is going to happen between the two of us, but I like what happend last night, and I want things to continue in that sort of way. Just think, if Luke and I ever dated, we'd get free coffee. We could totally abuse the privilege of me dating Luke." Lorelai said, laughing to herself about the idea.

"You're cruel. Here's a man who's totally into you, and you're just thinking about how we can get free coffee. But, I've got to say I'm with you on the idea."

"Totally into me? We have no proof of that. Who know's if he even wanted to kiss me last night. Sure he made the first move, but maybe he had too much to drink and thought, hmm, Lorelai looks good tonight and I'm feeling pretty desperate, so why not?"

"Oh please. You know Luke has had a thing for you for so long. As long as I can remember, come to think of it. It's more obvious than you loving coffee. Actually, that's a little much. It's more like, it's as obvious as you hating Michel. Or something around that- everybody know's it. Everybody can see it. Remember Rachael? I bet you didn't know that she left Luke because she thought that he had feelings for you. Oh, and if you're wondering how I knew that, I've got my sources, so don't pester me because I never reveal my sources."

"So who said it?" Lorelai said in a serious tone.

"Miss Patty." Rory said answering her.

"Figures. Good girl, I'm glad to know I can trust you. Like if I ever were to murder somebody, I'm glad to know you won't tell anybody." Lorelai said sarcastically.

"Like you could be trusted any more than I could?"

"Ha. You are silly." Lorelai said, offended

"Who would you even want to murder? I think your hypothetical situation is a little far fetched."

"I don't know maybe Emily Gilmore. Or you- guess it depends on how I'm feeling." Lorelai said as she walked towards the bathroom.

Lorelai went in the bathroom and started to put on her makeup. She started to think about whether or not things would be awkward around Luke at breakfast. Of course for her they would be. Suddenly, the memories of her bashing into the doors, and the servers, and tables came to her mind. She realized how much of a clutz she was while the whole time, Luke was as calm as ever. Bringing her flowers, and all these cute things. Just being himself, really. Rory walked into the bathroom and starting using Lorelais makeup also. A few minutes within the silence, Rory was wondering how she was feeling.

"So on a more realistic level, how are you really feeling? What's on your mind?" She asked.

"I'm not sure, I'm anxious to find out." Lorelai responded, grinning to herself.

At around 7:40, the girls walked out into the lobby and headed towards the kitchen. Sookie and the 1 guy from the kitchen staff were the only ones in there, cooking like crazy before breakfast was served.

"Hi sweetie, what's going on down here?" Lorelai asked politely.

"Oh, well let's see, me and Derek here have been struggling to finish the sauces that I want the guests to put on there waffles this morning. I'm starting to really kick myself for locking Michel out there with all the kitchen staff. I could use the help from them right about now."

"Oh don't worry, me and Rory are here now. What can we do?"

Sookie smiled and thought for a second, "Could you possibly run out there and find 4 willing people to join our kitchen staff?"

"No, but I do know 2 incredibly willing girls that are ready to do whatever they can."

"I appreciate the offer, but I think we've got everything settled for the moment. I'll let you know if we need anything, but we're almost ready to serve! People should be coming down from the room at around 8:00-8:15. Oh no, what time is it now?"

Lorelai glanced at her watch, "It's 7:48."

"Oh no, I have to take the bacon off the stove!"

"Well be in the dining room setting up if you need anything!" Lorelai screamed while walking out of the door.

Lorelai and Rory were setting up plates, and silverware for the guests breakfast. She wanted everything to be perfect, and that's how things were looking. It was around 8:00 when they finished everything and saw Taylor walking down the stairs into the dining room.

"Lorelai, I must say that I had a rather enjoyable night of sleep last night. Although one of my pillows wasn't as fluffy as the other. But I won't bother to write that on my list because everything else was very good." Taylor said with a kick of enthusiasm.

"Glad to hear it, Taylor." Lorelai said, while keeping her eye on the staircase.

She stood watching people walk down the staircase. Kirk and Lulu walked down, followed by Babette and Miss Patty. She got sudden butterflies in her stomach which reminded her of being in 6th grade.

"Oh Lorelai, sweetie! Those beds, can I take one home with me? That was the most comfortable bed I've slept in for a while! What kind of mattress is that?" Miss Patty asked.

Lorelai stood and chatted with them for a few minutes, until she realized that Luke was walking down in his typical backwards baseball hat, but this time, he wasn't wearing a plaid shirt. He was just wearing a simple, black tee-shirt showing off his muscles and tatoo. Lorelai grinned to herself thinking about how good he looked without so many layers.

He walked up to Lorelai and she suddenly froze, but eventually caught her tounge.

"Where's the plaid? I must say, I miss the lumberjack joe look."

"Good morning to you, too."

"Good morning yourself, mister."

They stood there smiling at each other for a few seconds, but quickly snapped out of it.

"So, we've got loads of food..." Lorelai began, "Go sit, eat breakfast, and enjoy the rest of your day! Come to think of it, I even have apples. I'm not sure if that's on your list of acceptable fruits, but it's worth a shot!"

"Great, I'll have an apple for breakfast." Luke said dryly.

"Hey there Mr. Happy Pants! We do have other food ya know. Go sit, I'll talk to you later."

Luke walked off and joined Jackson and Tom at a table. He sat there, pretending to be intrigued by the conversation they were having but all he could think about was the kiss, and whether or not they we're going to go on their date that night. He had to somehow ask her, but now wasn't the time.

As the crowd finished eating their breakfast, couples started to fade out of the picture and began to check out. Lorelai was at the front desk, arguing with Michel over who was the prettiest spice girl until Luke walked down the stairs with his bags.

"Leaving so soon?" Lorelai asked.

"Oh...well, I mean...if you want me to stay longer, then I guess I well...I guess I could call..." Luke began.

"Calm down, it's not the end of the world. I was kidding." Lorelai said.

"Yeah, I uh...I knew that." Luke said defensively.

Luke started to walk out the door, and Lorelai followed after him trying to continue their conversation.

"Listen, I hope you had a nice time." Lorelai began. "I'm sure seeing Babette drop her robe, and Kirk running around naked wasn't your idea of a good night but come to think about it you had a pretty pornatic night and whether or not that's a word I don't know but..."

"Yeah, I had some interesting encounters...but overall, I'd say my night was pretty good."

They had arrived to his car. Unaware of where they stood, Luke didn't know if he should bring up the date, but he thought that this would be the only time they'd be alone so why not? Feeling nervous, he started to bring up the offer again.

"Hey...I was just wondering if you still were up to that movie for tonight? If you don't want to go because of all the stuff going on here, that's okay, but I was just thinking and didn't know if we were still on."

"Yeah well, we do have a lot going on at the Inn, and I think that I should probably..." Lorelai began.

"Oh, well I understand if you don't want to go. Alright then, I'll just get goin' now. See ya around, I guess." Luke was mad, he wanted to go on that date. He began to open the car door until he heard Lorelai call his name.

"Hey Luke"

"Yeah?" She smiled and said, "I'd love to go."

Luke was relived. "Alright then, I guess I'll pick you up around 7? If that's alright with you."

"Perfect. But expect to see me sooner because I'm in a dire need for some coffee! I'll see you"

"Great. See you later."

Luke got in his car and drove off to the diner, while Lorelai stood there thinking about what just happend. Did he actually think she wouldn't want to go? "Crazy." She said quietly to herself as she began to walk back towards the Inn.

Lorelai and Rory arrived home from the Inn at around 3. It was a long morning of cleaning this and cleaning that, and trying to post the pictures on the wall that Kirk insisted taking off. They both went to their rooms got changed and headed for Lukes.

They walked in and it seemed more crowded then usual. There were 2 seats at the end of the counter so the girls made there way over there. Lorelai didn't see Luke, she assumed he was making some food, but she figured now was as good a time as any to make some noise.

"Oh Luuuuuuuuke! You have two adorable customers out here who could REALLY use some coffee right about now!" Lorelai screamed towards the kitchen.

Luke walked out of the kitchen and gave Lorelai a look that said shut up. He got two mugs and filled them up to the top with coffee.

"So you really aren't deaf." Lorelai joked.

"Yeah, surprisingly enough. Being friends with you has it's negatives, I wouldn't be surprised if one day I did end up waking up deaf." Luke mumbled sarcastically as he set their mugs in front of them.

"Your funny." Lorelai said in a mock tone.

"I know. What can I get for you?" He asked, looking at Rory.

"I think I'll have a muffin. Yea, a muffin please." Rory said in a contemplative manner, knowing that a muffin was exactly what she wanted.

"I'll have...pie!" Lorelai said excitedly.

Luke got them there food and then walked around the diner filling up coffee and taking orders. Lorelai turned her head to face him. She sat there, watching him, thinking to herself. She was excited for her date, but really nervous at the same time. Sure, it's Luke. Her great friend, Luke. But now this was, her date Luke. She didn't know how to act around him. "

"So, Mom," Rory said breaking the silence, " I was thinking that we should go shopping. I need to get a few things from the mall, and then we need to go food shopping because all we have in the fridge is a can of coffee and whip cream."

"And what is wrong with that?" Lorelai asked in complete seriousness.

"Mom, we have two things."

"I raise my question again. What is wrong with that?"

The girls finished up at Lukes, and headed to the mall. They shopped around, not concerned about the time, until she realized that it was almost 5:30. Where had the time gone?

"Rory, we've gotta get goin if you still want to go grocery shopping. Luke is picking me up at 7, little lady." Lorelai said.

"Oh, so you are going." Rory implied.

"Hey, I'm not going to pass up a perfectly good opportunity to annoy Luke one on one for a few hours!"

"Ah, so that's what they call it these days."

The girls left the mall and went to Dooses. Rory was paranoid like no other because she wasn't sure if Dean was going to be there, but she couldn't bring it up with her mom. She didn't want to start any more drama, so they walked in. Rory glanced around and didn't see Dean. So they went along with there shopping and managed to get back to the house by 6:15. Lorelai started rummaging through her closet but caught herself having a fashion brain freeze.

"Rory! Get up here! Your mother needs help!" Rory walked up the stairs and came into Lorelai's room.

"I've been telling you that for years. You finally decide to listen to me?"

"Real cute. But, I have bigger problems to worry about. Like, for one, what should I wear? How casual is this? Are we just going to a movie? Is there something he's leaving out? I don't know what to do right now, and I certainly don't know what to wear. Can you please help?!?" Lorelai asked anxiously.

"Show some skin. Wear your light green mini with the black see through sweater that tie's like a robe. I don't see it in your closet...but, you know what I'm talking about." Rory said.

"Yes, I'll make sure to wear a see through sweater with only my bra under it. Flattering." Lorelai remarked.

"Oh. Yeah. Well, wear the white tank underneath it with the lace on the top. That'll look cute."

"You're a genius." Lorelai continued getting ready.

She got dressed, put her straightened hair half up, and put her make up on. At 7:00 exactly, she heard somebody ring the bell.

"RORY! Get the door!!" Lorelai screamed down from her room.

"Gosh, doesn't he know who he's taking out? Lorelai Gilmore. Why on earth would he be on time? If I'm going to start dating him after all these years, I think I have some teaching to do." Lorelai muttered to herself.

Rory let Luke in, and the two of them sat down in the living room.

"You do know who you're going out with tonight, right?" Rory asked inquisitively.

"Your mother.....I think..." Luke replied.

"And what exactly makes you think she'd be ready on time?" Rory asked.

"That's my girl! I knew somebody had to have some common sense in this house." Lorelai said while walking down the stairs and putting on her high heels at the same time.

She saw Luke and thought that he looked amazing. He was wearing black pants and a coat with a light grey tee-shirt. Luke got up and greeted Lorelai at the bottom of the stairs. Luke was staring at Lorelai, thinking about how beautiful she looked.

Lost on words, he finally stuttered, "Uhh...hi. You look...great." He said.

"That makes two of us." She responded, calm and collected.

"You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." She grabbed her purse, gave Rory a quick kiss goodbye and they headed out the front door.

To Be Continued. Up next: A Never Forgetting Night


	3. A Never Forgetting Night

A/N: I hope you are all enjoying this! Let me know what you think! I'm updating at a quick pace because I already wrote quite a few chapters!

Just A Reminder: All these characters belong to ASP.

Chapter Three: A Never Forgetting Night

They walked in silence to Luke's truck. He opened the door for her and she climbed in. When they started driving, the conversation finally began.

"So, where are we headed." She asked.

"Well, I figured you had already eaten. Am I right?"

"Well, Rory and I went shopping, so I couldn't resist. Plus I wasn't sure if we were planning on going anywhere, so...I ate." She admitted.

"You ate...what?"

"1 Caramello Bar, 1 Snickers, 6 oreos, 2 chocolate chip cookies, 3 spoonfuls of cookie dough, and a banana."

"You ate a banana?" He asked, surprised.

"Actually, that's a lie. I just thought that I'd throw in something healthy so that you'd have some respect for me." She said.

"Well, as long as it's only your insides that you're rotting. But of course, I still have respect for you."

"Well good. So, I repeat my question. Where are we headed?"

"Well, since I fell asleep when I was at your house for movie night, I didn't get to finish Casablanca. And I know that you love that movie...so, that's where we're headed."

"Wow. Luke. We are going to see Casablanca? This movie is 10 times better in the theaters. Even if I hated you, I'd still see this with you...again." She said, laughing a little.

"Glad to know." He said dryly.

"But of course I don't hate you." She said, turning towards Luke and smiling. He smiled back, but not facing her. They were silent for a moment, enjoying there silence.

"And afterwards, we might as well go back to the diner and get some pie since today is your favorite kind. Is that okay?"

"You don't even have to ask!"

"Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering...since we're on a date and all, if you wanted to keep this between you and I for now. I'm perfectly fine either way, but I do know that you are next door neighbors to Babette."

"I'm glad that after all these years, you actually know who my neighbor is. Impressive young man." She said sarcastically.

"That's not what I meant. What I meant was if the town knew we were dating, or should I just say Miss Patty and Babette, you would constantly be bombarded with questions and since Babette lives right next to you, it won't make it much easier." He responded.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. I didn't realize we were full blown dating!" Lorelai said as Luke tossed her a look of disdain, "But yes I think we should keep us dating, and this date, under wraps. Until further ado."

"Sounds good." He said.

They drove in silence for a few more minutes, Lorelai was gazing out her window, concentrating on her surroundings.

"Thanks." She said.

"For what?"

"For wanting to protect me."

"Anytime." They talked for a little big longer until they finally got to the theater. They got out of the car, and Luke got the tickets.

"I'm assuming you want food?" He asked.

"Oh please. How could you come to the movies, and not eat food?"

"What'll ya have?"

"Popcorn. Oh and redvines! You always have to have redvines at the movies!"

They got their food, and walked into the theater. It was pretty crowded, so they got two seats in the middle of a row towards the back. Nobody else was sitting in their row, just the two of them. As the movie began to play, Lorelai was extremely into it, repeating lines and all.

"You know, that does get annoying after a while." Luke whispered to her.

Lorelai grinned at him and said, "I know. Which is why I'm doing it. Because I'm annoying."

She leaned in closer towards Luke. Although their was arm rests in between them, she tried to get closer to him. He noticed, and decided to take action. He put his arm around her, and she cuddled against his chest as much as she could. They sat like that for almost the whole movie. Everything just seemed so comfortable, for the both of them. When it was almost Lorelai's favorite part of the movie, she knew she had to recite the lines. She knew that she'd have to get out of the position she was sitting in though.

"Sorry in advance." Lorelai whispered.

"Why?"

She didn't answer him. A few minutes later, she moved positions. She sat on her knees in her seat. She was acting like she was 6. When it came to her favorite part, she recited the conversation, and when she was done, she turned to Luke to see his reaction.

"You're crazy. Do you know that?" He asked.

"Of course I knew that, silly. But you enjoyed that."

"Yeah, of course..."

He began to move closer to her face. "You know you did. And you loved every line I recited." She said, and she moved her head so that her forehead was pressed against his, and they were both smiling at each other for a few seconds.

"Oh why not." She whispered quietly, and went in for a kiss.

She gently planted a small kiss on Luke's lips. It didn't last long, but it was great. For the both of them. When she pulled away, he put his arm around her, and she leaned against him yet again, for the rest of the movie.

When the movie ended, they got up and walked out to the car. It was chilly outside, even for a summer night, so he lightly put his arms around her as they walked to the car. He opened the door for her, and then got in himself. He took off, and headed back to Stars Hollow. They talked a little bit in the car. Mostly about the movie. When they finally reached the diner, Lorelai glanced at the clock, she had no idea what time it was. It was almost 11:00. Where had the time gone? Of course driving to the movie and back took about an hour, and the movie was almost 2 hours, so that explained it.

They walked into the diner, and Luke closed the door and blinds behind him. Just in case somebody was around. Lorelai sat down at the counter, and Luke walked past her as he gently brushed his hands against her back. He walked behind the counter and started the coffee. He cut her a piece of pie, and watched her eat it.

"Why are you staring at me? Do I have something on my face?" She asked.

"Naw...I'm just. I don't know what I'm doing." He replied.

She patted the seat next to her. "Come sit."

He walked around the counter, and sat down next to her. He put one hand on her leg, and began staring at her again.

"I think you want some pie. Open wide!" She said, putting a piece of pie on her fork and directed it towards his mouth.

"Lorelai, don--" He began. She stuck the pie in his mouth and when he finally swallowed it he started telling her how uncalled for that was. She realized that he had part of a strawberry right above his top lip.

"You, uhh,..." She gestured towards his lip, and he aimlessly tried to wipe it off, but completely missed.

"Here." She leaned in very close to his face, and lifted her finger to his lip, slowly wiping over the strawberry off. He leaned in, and kissed her. He took her by surprise. This time it was more than just a peck on the lips.

"That was so nick-at-nite." She whispered to herself, giggling a little.

"What?" He asked, not hearing her.

"Oh...nothing." They continued talking and having a great time, until Lorelai glanced at her watch, shocked at how late it was, she thought it was time to leave.

"I better get going. It's almost 12:15."

"Oh, yeah." Luke started walking towards the door with Lorelai right behind him.

"I'll walk you home. I'd say we should take the car, but it's a nice night." Luke said opening the door.

"Most definitely." She said, smiling at him.

They walked out of the diner, feeling safe that it was too late for anybody to see them. He put his arm around the top of her back, so that she was leaning into him while they were walking. They talked a little, and then just enjoyed the silence for the rest of the time. When they finally got to Lorelai's front porch, she turned and faced him.

"I had an amazing time tonight." She began. "Thanks for everything."

"Yeah, so did I. It was a lot of fun, maybe we should do this again sometime?"

"I would enjoy that." She said smiling at him.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, as she wrapped hers around his neck, and they kissed passionately. Much like the kiss at the Inn. Her body almost felt numb from how good it felt to kiss him like that. It just felt so comfortable. She pulled back and smiled.

"Goodnight, Luke."

"Goodnight."

She walked into the house, smiled and winked at him, and closed the door. She leaned against the door, closing her eyes and smiling to herself. She finally pulled her strength and walked over to Rory's room. Surprised, she was still up. She was sitting on her bed writing in a notebook.

"I'm glad you're still up." She said, walking into Rory's room.

"Mom, hey! How was it?" Rory asked. "It was...amazing. I couldn't have had a better time. Well, I suppose I could have if those two idiot kids weren't sitting in front of us making out the whole time. And if they weren't making out, they were talking."

"And you weren't talking?" Rory questioned.

"Well, I was quiet, okay?"

"I'm sure." Rory began.

"So, details please." "Well, first he leaned in and kissed her. I think her name was Christine, but I wouldn't make any life changing bets on it, and then, she pulle--" Lorelai began before Rory cut her off.

"I'm not talking about the people in front of you, you idiot. I'm talking about you and Luke."

"Oh, that. Well, we went to see Casablanca, as you already know, and we had a really relaxing time. Then, he proposed, and we went to one of those 24 hour wedding chapels, and Rory, sweetie, we're married. She showed her a diamond looking ring on her finger.

"MOM. WHAT?" Rory screamed.

"I'm kidding. Calm down. I've gotta tell Luke that worked though. I made a bet that you would believe me. I got it out of a 25 cent machine, golly!" Lorelai stated.

"You almost gave me a heart attack. Can we act normal now?" She asked.

"Yeah, well, then we went to the diner, and ate pie, and then he walked me home. It was really fun, and romantic, and comfortable. I hope he ask's me out again."

"I'm sure he will." Rory said.

"Yeah, I hope, but this is all so crazy! Of all people for me to have an _incredible_ night with, it's Luke, my friend Luke." Lorelai sighed, and Rory just smiled at her. "Well, I'm pooped. I'm going up to bed. Goodnight, babe." She kissed Rory goodnight and started to walk out of her room.

"Mom?"

"Yeah, hun?"

"I know this might sound like I'm 4 again, but...I was wondering if I could sleep up there with you, for tonight?" Rory asked, kind of embarrassed.

Lorelai new that Rory felt awkward and uncomfortable in her room after the other night with Dean.

"As long as you don't hog all the blankets." Lorelai said, smiling at her.

"Promise."

The girls walked up to Lorelai's room and got ready for bed. Finally, they hoped in bed and Lorelai turned out the lights.

"You're happy." Rory said quietly.

"I am." Lorelai said, smiling at herself.

"I wish I was as happy as you are." Rory said with a sad tone in her voice.

"Oh sweetie, you will be soon. Everything will be fine." Lorelai said sympathetically.

"I hope so. Goodnight, mom. I love you."

"I love you too, kid." Lorelai said. "Rory? I hope you don't take offense to me calling you kid now. You know what I mean. Right?"

"Yeah, sorry I flipped out the other night." Rory said.

"It happens." The girls feel asleep and got up around 10:30 the next morning. They both took showers and got dressed.

"Wanna go to Luke's?" Rory asked.

"You don't even have to ask." Lorelai said, smiling to herself.

To Be Continued. Up Next: Two Invitations for Fun.


	4. Two Invitations for Fun

A/N: I just want to say thanks for the feedback I've gotten! It really helps me out! I'm going to try and fix some of the mistakes I've made. As you can tell, I'm moving this story at a very slow pace. It's only been like 4 day's or so after the test run. I personally like Chapters 5 and on, but bare with me until then...please! :o) Thanks again!  
  
Just a Reminder: ASP's.  
  
Chapter Four: Two Invitations for Fun

The girls walked to Lukes in silence. Rory had a lot on her mind. She hadn't been giving Dean much thought. She's had no time to herself, and she wanted to leave Stars Hollow. The town was too small for her, the gossip too much, and the people too nosey. In the end, she needed to leave. She needed to get out of the area, to have some time to herself, to think everything through, but she didn't know where that invitation would come up.

Lorelai put her arm around Rory and stared at her while they were walking. "What's on your mind? We haven't had a lot of time to talk about you."

"I'm just thinking about things. About how I haven't given anything much thought and how I need to before I'm prepared to face everybody. Everybody as in Dean, or Lindsay, and most importantly myself. That's all." Rory said, staring straight ahead.

The girls walked into Lukes and took two seats at the counter. Lorelai was a little nervous because she didn't know if things would be different. They weren't different the first time, after the kiss at the Inn, but now, they had gone on a date, and kissed, more passionately. But it's not like the town knew about the two of them, so things couldn't be weird around them. They didn't see Luke right away, but knew he'd be out there soon.

"Oh hey guys." Luke said as he walked out of the kitchen with two plates.

"I'll be with you in a second." He said walking away and delivering the plates to a couple in the back. He walked around the counter and stood directly in front of Lorelai, smiling at her.

"Good morning." She said, softly, a little under her breath.

"You too, how are ya doin?"

"No complaints." She said slyly.

"Coffee?" He asked her, still smiling.

"Backwards baseball hat?" She said, cunningly back at him.

"You're funny." He said as he poured a cup of coffee for her and Rory.

"So, what would do you want?"

"Well, I've been putting a lot of thought into this. I would just really love...for the Backstreet Boys to break up. I can't stand turning on the radio and here them squealing. But, I guess for the meantime I'll take chocolate chip pancakes." Lorelai said.

Luke rolled his eyes and turned to Rory.

"Ditto" Rory said right before Luke walked into the kitchen.

Lorelai watched him as he walked into the kitchen. She watched the way he held himself up, the way that he walked, the way that his hand moved as he put down the coffee pot. She watched him very carefully, identifying traits about him that he might not even have realized. She sat there staring, and thinking. She thought things were normal, for now at least, while they were in the public eye.

All of a sudden, Rory's cell phone started to ring and before Luke came out to her to remind her that cell phones weren't allowed, she told her mom she'd be right back and walked outside. Luke came out with two plates of chocolate chip pancakes.

"It looks like you put extra chocolate chips in there, am I right or am I right?" She asked him gesturing to the plates.

"Consider yourself right." He said staring down at the plates.

"Where's Rory?"

"She's outside on her cell phone. We didn't want to bring out the happy in Luke."

"Funny." He started, "Anyways, I had a question to ask you."

"No Luke I will not re-enact the fight from the season finale of The Real World."

"Oh, man...what a disappointment. But anyways, I have this fancy dinner party I was invited to that is for a vendor for the diner, and, well, I was wondering if you would be my...my uh...my date." He finally spit it out while fidgeting with his hands, scared of what she'd say even though he thought he had a pretty good shot of getting her to accept.

Lorelai was surprised...and excited. "Oh, well, uhm, when is it?" She was lost on words, stunned at how she sounded.

"Well, that's the thing. It's tomorrow night. I know it's really short notice, and I'd understand if you don't want to but after how things worked- -"

Lorelai started smiling at Luke. Smiling because of how nervous he was. Smiling because of how he kept rambling. Smiling because she really liked him.

"Of course, I'll go with you. I'd like that a lot."

"Great. It starts at 6. It's over at the Rampant Country Club, so I'll pick you up at around 5:30? Is that okay?"

"Perfect." Rory walked back in and sat down to eat her food which was cold by now. Luke walked backwards into the kitchen while staring at Lorelai. She winked at him, and he turned around and disappeared into the kitchen.

"What was that all about?" Rory asked, looking over at Lorelai who had her eyes focused on the kitchen.

"Oh, Luke just asked if I would be his date to some dinner party tomorrow at the Rampant County Club." Lorelai said nonchalantly.

"Fancy!"

"I'd say so." Lorelai said, still staring off into the kitchen with no particular focus point. "Who called?" Lorelai asked, snapping back into reality.

"It's Lane. She wants me to come over for a little bit, so I'm going to get goin. Are you going to be okay here?" Rory joked.

"Of course I am, Rory. What are you talking about? I'm going to be just fin--"

"I was kidding. Calm down. I'll see you at home." Rory started walking out the door and Lorelai just shook her head and picked up her arm, gesturing towards the door.

"Luke!" She screamed towards the kitchen.

Luke rushed out to see what she needed. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to go. Thought I'd say bye first, but I'll see you tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'll see you in the morning, I'm going to have to get to the Inn early if I want to leave before 4:30 on a Sunday. So should I plan on seeing you at 5:30?"

"Lorelai, if you can't get out of work, it'll be no trouble for me to go alone."

"It's no trouble at all. I _want_ to go." She said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll see you."

Lorelai put some money on the table and walked out and headed towards her house. She walked passed Kim's Antique's to see if Lane and Rory were outside, but saw no sign of them, so she headed home. Right when she walked in, the phone was ringing, so she ran into the kitchen to find the phone.

"House or horrors. How can I help you?" Lorelai said.

"Lor?" Some man said quietly. Not recognizing the voice, Lorelai continued to joke.

"If I said no, would you believe me?"

"Not anymore. How are you?" The man asked.

"I'm fine. And how are you mystery man?"

"Lor, it's Chris." Lorelai was shocked to hear from him. She was curious to what he wanted, so continued the conversation.

"Christopher." She said softly. "What's...going on? Are you okay?" She stammered out.

"Is it a crime to see how you are doing?" Chris asked sounding aggravated.

Lorelai started pacing around the house for some reason. She hadn't spoken to Christopher for almost two months. She knew he was on some business trip, and dealing with Sherry and the baby, so that explained the lost calls.

"Well howdy-do to you too. What can I do for you?"

"Lor, I'm coming to Stars Hollow. I need to talk to you, and I would like to see you and Rory. Is it okay if I come by when I'm in town. I can stay at your new hotel, or wherever, but I just would like to talk to you."

"Is everything okay, Christopher? Should I be worrying?"

"No....uh...don't worry about it." He said between long pauses.

"Ooh, convincing. You deserve an award my friend. What do you need to talk about?" She asked curiously.

"Nothing, I'll just call you when I'm in town. We'll talk then."

"Intriguing....so, when should I be expecting you?" She asked.

"Today's Sunday? Right? So, I'd say I'll be coming through by Tuesday. I'll call you when I'm close by. Bye Lor. Thanks."

"Uh yeah. No proble--?" She began before hearing the dial tone. He had hung up before she could say goodbye. She was confused. He sounded quiet, and nervous to be talking. It wasn't the same Chris, something was wrong. She was anxious to see him, just to see what he wanted.

* * *

"And my mom completely caught us. She knew right when he walked out of my room. It's like she came home purposely to catch me. It was horrible, Lane. She was so disappointed. And I said some pretty harsh comments to her."

"Wow...I can't believe it. After all this time...I mean, I wouldn't expect you to be the one to do that, but Rory we make mistakes. People make mistakes." Lane said, trying to sound sympathetic. But she really meant it. She didn't want to see her best friend so hurt.

"So, what are you going to do about it? Have you seen him since?" Lane asked.

"No, I haven't seen him since he left my house. I don't know if anybody else know's. I need to get out of here Lane. I need to go somewhere, someplace, where everybody else isn't. I need to figure this out with the help of nobody. I just want to go somewhere." Rory started. "I have a crazy idea."

"I'm listening..." Lane said, moving her head accordingly to indulge herself into the conversation.

* * *

Rory arrived about 20 minutes later. Lorelai was on the couch eating a bag of popcorn watching VH1's 40 greatest moments of reality TV.

"Uh, hello, great mocking opportunities. Couldn't pass the moment up." Lorelai said when she saw Rorys dumbfounded look. Rory took a seat on the couch next to her mom. She began eating the popcorn and watching the show with her, but clearly, she was not paying attention.

"Mom? I need to talk to you about something." Rory said, grabbing the remote from the coffee table and turning off the TV.

"What's going on?" Lorelai looked concerned.

"I was talking to Lane today. I was telling her how I need to get out of Stars Hallow for a little while, to fully think things out. I need to think about this whole Dean situation on my own."

"Keep going..." Lorelai said, impatiently.

"We're going on a road trip. Lane and I. I'm not sure where we're headed, but understand that this is for me, and it's nothing towards you or anybody else. I need to get out of here for a little while. I need to think things over, and this isn't the place for me to do it. I was thinking of taking up Grandma on that offer to Europe for a little while. But I was with Lane, and her band's taking a break for the summer because the bass players going somewhere or something, and I would much rather be with Lane. Grandma has some problems of her own that she needs to work out also, but I just feel being with Lane would be better. Hey two insane woman that have problems is not a good combination."

Lorelai stared at her daughter for a few moments. Not smiling, not anything. Just looking at her, as if she was surprised.

"Mom, say something." Rory demanded.

"Rory, babe, you can't run away from your problems. If that's why you're leaving, you have to realize that when you get back, things will still be here, waiting for you. But if you are leaving for your own good, because you want to think things over before actually facing them, then I understand."

This time, Rory stared at her mom. She was a little offended that her mom would think she's running from her problems. Clearly, that wasn't what she was doing. It might have looked like that, but Rory was more mature than that. She knew what she would be coming back to, and she thought that going on this trip and thinking these things through would help her be more prepared.

"That's not it, mom. I'm not running away. I'm taking time to get a better view and grasp on things."

"Well then I understand, Rory."

"Are you mad?" "Of course not. If that's what you have to do, that's what you have to do."

"Well, me and Lane were thinking of leaving pretty soon. In about a week. We're not positive where were headed, or how long we're going to be gone."

"Hey, hey. You can't just leave me for the whole summer. Get an estimate. Let me know as soon as you know." Lorelai said. Then all of a sudden she thought of Christopher and her confrontation with him over the phone.

"You're father is coming here on Tuesday."

"What? To Stars Hollow?" Rory asked, with the look of confusion on her face.

"Yeah, he said he wants to see us and that he needs to talk to me. I'm not sure what this is all about, but he told me not to worry. I want you to stick around to see him while he's here. Promise me that much, okay?" She said, looking at Rory who looked sad. Not because her father was coming in, but because of what was going on with her. She looked emotionally drained out. Lorelai knew that she needed this trip, and especially with Lane, her best friend. She felt much safer knowing that she'd be with Lane rather than her mother.

"Anyone but my mother." Lorelai whispered to herself.

"What?" Rory asked

"Nothing. Just mumbling to myself."

Rory leaned in closer to her mom, resting her head on her shoulder. Lorelai kissed the top of her head, and they just lied there for a few minutes.

"I love you, mom. You know I'm going to call. And I'll write you everyday. I promise."

"I'll miss you." Lorelai said, holding back the lump running through her throat.

"I'll miss you." Rory said back.

The girls talked for a few more minutes, and then continued watching the TV show. When it was over, they ordered a pizza for dinner, and invited Sookie over. Lorelai hadn't told Sookie about the going on's in her life, and wanted to tell her before somebody else did. Not like anybody knew that they were a couple, but living in Stars Hollow was a trap.

The girls lounged around until Sookie got to their house at about 6:00. She brought the pizza with her, and they all settled in the living room, sitting around the table eating pizza and watching, "The Breakfast Club." When the movie ended, Rory went into her room giving Lorelai and Sookie some privacy.

"What a great movie." Sookie said, after Lorelai turned off the TV.

"Can never watch it enough." Lorelai paused.

"So. I have some things to talk to you about."

"What is it Lorelai? Is everything okay?" Sookie asked concerned.

"Everything is...perfect. So let's see where do I begin..." The thoughts of the Inn flashed through her head, and when Luke confirmed the date, and when they actually went on the date, and the kissing, and the goodbyes, and the invitation to the dinner. There was a lot to catch up on.

"So I guess it started at the test run. Jason talked to Luke."

"Oh no, what happend?"

"Well..." Lorelai began, "Jason told Luke that we were together still. That we just, 'hit a bump in the road.'"

"So what's the problem with that?" Lorelai gave her a look of stupidity and Sookie continued,

"Oh right, right, that's not true. You hate Jason, continue, please, please."

"Sookie, something's been going on between Luke and I. After the wedding, he asked me to a movie. Remember?" Lorelai continued before Sookie could even answer. "And he confronted me about his conversation with Jason, and he told me how he was mad that after all the trying he's been doing, that I've been with Jason the whole time the whole time. So of course I defended myself, and told him I wasn't seeing Jason anymore. And then he pulled this crap out on me, something about how I was leading him on? I'm not really sure. And before I know it, he's kissing me. So naturally, I kissed him back. I thought it would explain how I felt about him." Sookie's eye's widened as Lorelai continued. "And I pulled away, because, things felt, I don't know...weird, I guess. But it was a comfortable weird. So I leaned in again, and we kissed for a second time." Sookie's eyes opened even wider, as her mouth dropped at the same time. "And then, well then Kirk ran down and Luke had to leave."

Sookie stared at Lorelai for a moment. Taking in everything she just heard. She always knew that Luke and Lorelai would end up together. The whole town did. And to know that it finally happend struck her as surprised, to say the least.

"Lorelai, that's great. I can't believe it, after all this time. It's about time. Are you happy? Is he happy? Are you okay?"

"I'm great. But there's more. We went on a date that night. We saw Casablanca at this theater out in Hartford, it was really romantic. And then we went back to the diner for pie and talked until about 12:15 when I realized I had to go. So he walked me home, and kissed me goodnight, and today he invited me to this dinner party tomorrow, as his date. A lot is going on..." Lorelai sat there, staring at the wall, re-thinking everything that she just said. Re-thinking about the date, and the kiss. Things were good.

"Amazing. Let me tell you. I'm so happy for you, sweetie. If this is what you want." Sookie was nervous that Lorelai would say she wasn't happy. But how couldn't she be? Luke is a great guy.

"I'm so happy. I feel sixteen again. I get nervous when I see him, and scared when I'm around him. Things have gotten a little less nerve wrecking, but that feeling, well, it's-it's, exciting. It's like a constant feeling of anxiousness. It's like I'm always waiting for something to happen. It's great."

"Well then, I'm so glad to hear it. Does anybody else know?"

"No. And that means you can't tell anybody. Please. We just want it to remain discreet until we're settled in our decision."

"What do you mean your decision?"

"Well, I'm actually not sure. But basically, until we've decided that this whole dating thing is going to last, not forever or course, but I mean long enough to make the telling of the town worth it. You know what I mean. I don't want Babette to start chasing me, telling me how cute our kids would be, if it's something that won't last that long."

Sookie laughed. "Exactly."

The girls sat in the living room for a good half hour talking about Lorelai and Luke. About the date, and about the invitation for tomorrow night. It was until Jackson called saying he couldn't get Davey to stop crying that Sookie left.

Lorelai walked into Rory's room and said goodnight. Lorelai was tired, and had to get up early. So she went up to her room, got ready for bed, and took out her journal.

She kept a journal for quite some time now, and only wrote in it occasionally. When there was actually something exciting enough to write about. Tonight was one of those nights. _ Sookie said it's about time. Is it really? Was it inevitable from the beginning? Sometime's I wonder. Life is good right now. Life is good. _ She closed her journal, and lied there smiling at it. She slipped under her covers and happily fell asleep.

To Be Continued: So Unrealistic


	5. So Unrealistic

Authors Note: Thanks for the review's so far! It really encourage's me to keep writing, so thanks again. This chapter is a little bit more "girly" than the other's but hey--it still works. I hope you guys are enjoying yourself thus far! xoxo  
  
Just a Reminder: Sadly but true, I do not own them.

Chapter Five: So Unrealistic

Lorelai woke up at around 6:15. She went into the shower and started to think about her outfit for tonight. She remembered that he said it was going to be fancy, so she had to impress him with something...well, fancy. When she got dressed for work, she walked downstairs and left a note for Rory under the coffee pot.

_Hi babe, I had to go to work early. Come by and see me- we'll do lunch. I'll be home around 4:30 for my date with Luke tonight. See ya later. Love, mom._

She arrived at work and right away Michel started the bad part of her day.

"We are over booked."

"What? How are we already over booked?"

"Well, I'm not sure but I could talk to the last person who took the reservation for the Whitman's, and see if they know."

"Not the time for your jokes Michel. The Whitman's? Of all people to be over booked with..." Lorelai walked away from her desk and went straight to the kitchen. Coffee would fix all her problems.

"Sookie! Where are you!" Lorelai screamed while walking into the kitchen.

"I need more apples! And Jackson can't get any to me by tomorrow. How am I supposed to make apple pie if I don't have enough apples? What am I going to do?"

"And the day keeps getting better..." Lorelai said while walking over to the coffee pot.

"Oh you've got to be joking me. No coffee?"

"Oh, sorry, I'll start it up for you."

"I have a feeling that this is going to be a bad day. I hope it'll be better by night time." Lorelai said walking out of the kitchen.

"Oh yeah! You're date!" Sookie called out to her right before she left.

The rest of the day was frustrating for her. Rory didn't come for lunch, there were grumpy customers, Michel was being particularly annoying, and she lacked coffee. The last thing she wanted was to have a bad evening with Luke.

At around 4:30, she left the Inn and went home. She came home to an empty house with no note.

"Great, getting ready by myself. My favorite thing to do." She mumbled to herself while walking up the stairs.

As she walked into her room, she was surprised to see Rory sleeping on her bed. She didn't want to wake her up, at least not yet, so she went into the bathroom and prepped herself up. By the time she walked back into her room, Rory was just opening her eyes.

"Well hello sleeping beauty." Lorelai joked.

"Oh, hi mom. Sorry, I was just up here and I was so tired, I haven't been sleeping well lately."

"No apologies needed. Want to help me get ready?"

"Oh that's right! You're going out with Luke tonight. What are you going to wear?"

Lorelai fumbled through some clothes in her closet. She knew she wanted to wear a dress, but that didn't help much. After many debates between the girls, she finally decided on a dress. It wasn't anything special, but that's why it was right. She didn't want to look like she was showing off. She chose a knee length black tube top dress. In the middle of the dress, right by her stomach, there was a cream colored silk bow that wrapped around. She left her curly hair down, but with a little bit of hair pulled up on top of her head held by a little clip. She wore cream high heals with a strap across, and just a black dressy scarf as her coat.   
  
"You look amazing." Rory gasped as she finished putting on the scarf.

"Yeah, well I better because I don't take 45 minutes to get ready and look like crap." Lorelai said, smiling as she checked herself one last time in the mirror.

At about 5:35, Luke was at the door. Rory opened it up as Lorelai ran upstairs to put on her necklace with a single pearl.

"Let me guess...she's not ready?" Luke asked while walking into the house.

"I tried to be a few minutes late."

"Actually, she's ready. She just ran upstairs to get a necklace. She'll be down in a second."

"And in a second I appear." Lorelai said, walking down the stairs.

It was like deja vu. Her walking down the stairs, him meeting her there, it was just like the first date. Although this time they were both dressed a little more fancy. Luke wore a black tux, and a tie.

"Must be some party, look at you all GQed up."

"You said you liked that."

"Well, you two kids better get going. Luke, have her home by 10." Rory said.

Luke held the door open for her, and as Lorelai walked out, she turned around and stopped, staring at him.

"Hey you." She said, giving him a small peck on the cheek while pulling him into a hug. She felt awkward just leaning in for a kiss, since they have only gone out on one date, but she felt what she did was appropriate enough.

"You look beautiful." Luke said, eyeing her up and down.

"You don't look bad yourself." She said, smiling at him.

He grabbed her hand, and walked down the stairs of the porch. When they got in the car, Luke didn't put the keys in right away. Instead, he turned to Lorelai and just stared at her. She was beautiful. He couldn't believe he finally got his wish of being with her. It felt so unrealistic, but he knew it wasn't.

"You really do look beautiful." He repeated. 'She always looked beautiful' he thought to himself.

"Thank you." Lorelai said quietly, giving him a half smile, half grin kind of look.

"I just wanted to thank you for coming with me on such short notice. I really appreciate it."

"Your welcome. I'm glad you asked." Luke shot her a smile, and started to drive to the country club.

They talked a little on the way there, but really just enjoyed the silence. It wasn't like an awkward silence, where you can't think of something to say. It was more of a comfortable silence, something they both felt.

When they arrived to the country club just a few minutes before 6, they walked out of the car and headed towards the main entrance. Luke put his arm around her waist, and walked into the country club looking like they had been together for months. They were very natural about their appearance.

After exchanging hello's with everybody, although Lorelai had no idea who any of the people were, they sat down at a table with one other couple. The tables only sat 4, and Luke had recognized the guy from somewhere before.

"Hi, Luke Danes." Luke said, extending his hand to give the guy a hand shake

"Hey, how ya doin? I'm Brian Welt, and this is my wife Jane."

"I'm Lorelai." She said as quick as she could. She didn't want Luke to feel uncomfortable and have to introduce her as his 'friend' or anything like that.

They all talked for a little while, until Luke got up and placed his hands on her back. She turned her head around and stared up at him, smiling.

"What do you want to drink?" He asked.

"White wine, please."

"Here, I'll join you." Brian said getting up to go with Luke.

The guys walked off, and Lorelai just watched him walk away and begin to talk to a guy that said hello. She turned around, and saw Jane staring at her.

"Newlyweds?" Jane asked.

"Oh uh, no. Just..." Lorelai didn't know what to say. And she didn't know this lady very well, but gave her the 411 anyways. "Long time friends. Just started dating actually. Pretty nerve wrecking if you think about it."

"Ah, that was my second guess. The both of you are glowing." Lorelai laughed, shaking her head a little.

"You guys make a very good couple if that helps any."

"Thanks, it does."

"Is this your first date?" Jane asked, continuing the conversation. And Lorelai didn't mind at all, she liked talking about Luke and could tell that Jane was interested.

"Second...actually. We've been friends for...gosh, about 8 years. He owns a diner, with the best coffee in Connecticut let me add, and I go there at least once a day. But I've never looked at him like that." Lorelai said, while turning her back to stare at Luke. "It's always been a 'I want coffee and a burger' 'Red meat's going to kill you, so will all the coffee' kind of relationship. Jane laughed. Intrigued by the conversation, she moved over to the seat where Luke had been sitting.

"Sometimes it's almost unrealistic. My friends, and people around the town always thought that we'd end up together at some point. I always thought that they were crazy, but well, if you really want to know the story..." Lorelai said, pausing and waiting for Jane to respond.

"Of course. Keep going..."

"I just opened a new Inn, the Dragonfly Inn in Hartford, and we had a test run over the weekend with all our friends and family, and he kissed me there. I was so surprised, to say the least, but it happend for the right reasons." She said, once again glancing over at Luke.

"You can't stop smiling."

"It's a crazy feeling my friend." Lorelai said.

As the guys walked back with their drinks, Jane walked back to her seat, across the table.

"Here you go." He said, handing Lorelai her wine.

"Thank you." She said, glancing over at Jane who was smiling at her. Lorelai returned the smile, and giggled, thinking about their conversation.

Right before dinner was served, couples started to get up and dance. Lorelai hadn't been thinking about dancing because she was in a detailed conversation with Jane about the Dragonfly but Luke was. When the time was right, he made an approach to ask her to dance.

"Would you like to dance?" He asked her.

"Lets." She said, beginning to stand up.

He took her by her hand, and lead her out to the dance floor. It wasn't like the dance at Liz's wedding though. This time, he wrapped his arms around her waist, as she wrapped hers around his shoulders. She pushed her cheek against his and slowly closed her eyes, while inhaling the scent of him. They danced slowly to a song by Frank Sinatra, not saying a word the whole time. When the song ended, they slowly walked back to their table. Lorelai glanced at Jane who was smiling at her. She couldn't help but think of how Jane pointed out that she couldn't stop smiling. It was the truth.

After dinner, Luke asked Lorelai to dance again. They went up to the floor and re-enacted the same dancing as before. Quiet, and comfortable. As the song ended, they stood there, still dancing with each other, and with their luck another slow song came on, so they continued dancing. Lorelai moved her face off of Luke's and looked at him. They stood there, smiling at each other for a few moments until Luke leaned in and moved a piece of hair that was covering Lorelais eye a little. She stood there, gazing at him, while he leaned in and kissed her. The kiss was strong, and sent shivers through Lorelais body. They continued dancing, and went back to their table as the song ended.

"So what do you say we leave a little early?" Luke asked while walking back to the table. "I want to take you somewhere."

"What do you have in mind?"

"You'll see." Lorelai sat down while Luke went to get there coats.

Brian was talking to some man at the table next to him, and Jane was just finishing up a conversation on her cell phone.

"Well aren't you two cute." Jane said, while putting her cell phone back in her purse.

"Well of course we are." Lorelai joked. "Actually, we're going to leave, but I had a really good time talking to you tonight. It was so nice to meet you." Lorelai said, standing up and walking towards her.

"It was nice to meet you also. You two stay good, ok?"

"Thanks, we will." Lorelai stood there for a second staring at her hand bag. She reached in and grabbed a business card of hers and handed it to Jane.

"Call me if you're ever in the area." Lorelai said, as Luke walked back with the Lorelais scarf and his coat.

They all exchanged goodbyes, and Lorelai and Luke were on there way. They drove in silence for what seemed to be a quick drive. When Luke pulled up to the place, Lorelai still wasn't sure where she was. He went around and opened the door for her. He held her hand as they walked in the dark.

"Where are we?" Lorelai asked, looking around.

"This is Elpine Park. Have you ever been here before?" He asked.

"No, I haven't. I've always wanted to see it though, I've head it's beautiful over here." Elpine Park is a very popular park that people often got married in. It was huge. It had it's own little river, with stones and rocks next to the waterfall that was surrounded by huge gardens of flowers. It had a little trail for them to follow, so they began walking through.

A few minutes into their walk, they saw a bench inbetween two huge trees. Luke took her over to the bench and as he sat down, Lorelai just looked across the darkness, making out some of the things around her. A few moments later, she sat down sideways on Luke's lap. Not typical for her, but the whole dating thing wasn't either. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and they just sat there for a moment until Luke leaned in and kissed her. She turned her head so that she was facing him, and returned the kiss. This kiss was...magical though. As she kissed his bottom lip, she began to part their lips with her tounge, becoming more involved in the kiss. Luke ran his hands on the small of her back, while Lorelai ran her hands across his face, feeling the stubble of his beard tickle her. She began to giggle, and smiled through the kiss. She pulled away and stood up looking at her surroundings. He stood up in front of her, and pecked her on the lips, pulling her into the firmiliar dance position, and they danced there with no music, and no light except for the wind blowing, and the moon and stars above them.

Lorelai stood there thinking about how unrealistic this all was. Here she was, spending one of the most romantic moments of her life in a park dancing to no music with Luke. And as Luke stood there, he thought that everything was so unrealistic. Here he was, spending with no question _the most_ romantic moment of his life with the girl he's always dreamed of being with, Lorelai. They danced for a few moments, silent. Finally, they mutually pulled away, smiling at each other.

"We better get going." Lorelai whispered. She felt that talking normal would disturb something about the night.

They walked out of the park hand in hand. When they got to the car, Lorelai turned around to take one last look at the park. He opened the door for her, and the sat in the car for a few moments before going. Lorelai tucked around Luke's arm. He placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head, and started to drive away with Lorelai still right beside him.

The whole ride home was silent. Lorelai had her eyes closed the whole time, while Luke had one arm around her, and the other on the steering wheel. They pulled up to Lorelai's house by about 11. Lorelai lifted her head up and glanced at the clock.

"You're in trouble. You were supposed to have me home an hour ago." Lorelai joked.

"Sorry, I guess the park was a bad idea." Luke said sarcastically.

"Bad idea was it not mister. Bad idea is me having to go home now. It's still early." Lorelai said while getting out of the car.

"Yeah...but it was fun while it lasted."

They walked up to the porch and instead of going in right away, Lorelai sat down on the swing. Luke sat down next to her but there was no contact between the two of them. The both just sat there, minding their own personal space.

"I don't know who lied to you, but I like cuddling." Lorelai said staring up at him giving him a slight frown.

Luke put one hand behind her back as the other was wrapped around her stomach and at her side his hands met. He held his hands together, securely holding on to her, pulling her closer to him. Lorelai threw her legs on the swing to the side, as she placed her head on his shoulder. They sat there for a while just staring ahead. Lorelai closed her eyes for what seemed like a minute, but woke up and saw Luke sleeping next to her, in the same position. She was tired, and had no idea what time it was so she glanced at the watch on Luke's wrist, trying not to wake him up, it was 3:00 am.

"Luke." She whispered. He didn't hear here, so she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, whispering Luke again in his ear.

He sat up and looked around, confused. "What time is it?"

"It's 3:00."

"I guess we found something to do to make the night last longer." He kidded. "I should go. I've got to open up in about 3 hours, I need some sleep." He said, starting to stand up.  
  
Lorelai stood up next to him, grabbed her scarf, and put it over her shoulders as a light breeze went by.

"Tonight was great." She said quietly, looking down at her shoes.

"I'd say so." He said staring at her. He lifted his hand to her face, and lifted her face up. She smiled at him, as she rose her hands to his face and gently kissed his lips.

"Goodnight." She said pulling away.

"Good morning." He said as he pulled her into a hug.

"You know...you could stay here if you wanted. The couch is comfortable." She said apprehensively.

"Thanks for the offer. I would, but I've got to be down at the diner in about 2 ½ hours. Nothing against you of course."

"I'm sure." She said, smiling at him.

"See you later?" He asked.

"You can count on it."

He walked down the porch and got into his car. Lorelai stood there waiting for him to pull out. He looked over at her smiled, and drove off. When he was no longer in sight, she went up to bed and slept the rest of the night peacefully.

Up Next: Unexpected Visitors and Popularity


	6. Unexpected Visitors and Popularity

Authors Note: This chapter is a little...slow, but I've already written chapters 6-10, and let me just hint that things are going to get better, and more...exciting! I hope somebody out there is still reading this! Thanks for all the great reviews so far! Please keep it up! I need somebody's feeback! Thank you!

Just a Reminder: Not mine...although it'd be cool if they were.

Chapter Six: Unexpected Visitors and Popularity

It was about 6:45 when Lorelai woke up. She thought to herself how she went to bed only 3 ½ hours ago, so immediately went to the coffee pot and poured herself a generous cup of coffee. It wasn't until about 8:00 when she arrived at the Dragonfly. She almost felt guilty because she didn't call Luke, or stop by and see him after such a wonderful evening.

The whole day was quick, which was very unusual, and normally she'd want that but there was something about the quickness that gave her butterflies in her stomach. Christopher. He was coming tomorrow, and she was nervous. She racked her brain for a reason to why he was coming, but could think of nothing reasonable.

She left the Inn close to 3, it had been an early day for her, and headed straight to the diner. She wanted to tell Luke that Christopher was coming through tomorrow. She wasn't sure how he'd react. She couldn't imagine him over reacting because it's not like they were a set in stone couple. They went on a couple dates, and that's all. But it wasn't all. She didn't know how he felt, but she had an amazing time with him. She just hoped for the best.

The first thing that Lorelai saw when walking up to the diner was Luke talking to an unfamiliar lady sitting at the counter. Right before Lorelai walked through the door, she saw Luke disappear into the kitchen. She walked in, and took a seat directly next to the girl. She was a very pretty girl. She was almost as tall as Lorelai, but not quite. She had short, straight, brown hair, and really pretty clear, green eyes.

When Luke finally walked out from the kitchen, he started walking towards the woman, with his head down not even realizing Lorelai. When he finally looked up and stared straight at the girl, he noticed Lorelai, grinning at him slyly.

"Oh, uhh- Lorelai." He said, staring at her suspiciously.

"Luke. Hello." She said reaching for a menu.

"A menu? What do you need a menu for?" He asked leaning in towards her.

"Too look at the list of food inscribed on the paper. What do you think?" She said, not being rude, but being...Lorelai. "Ah, whatever. I'll take a burger."

Luke looked up from Lorelai and stared at the woman next to her, who was watching them very closely. Luke realized that she was still there, and decided that now would be the time to introduce her to Lorelai.

"Jen...this...this, well...this is Lorelai."

"Yes, I'm Lorelai." She said, smiling at Jen.

"Jen is a friend of mine from high school who was passing through on her way to New York for a business trip." Luke explained.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Jen said, smiling towards Lorelai.

"You too." She said, staring at her, but then turned to Luke who looked, dare she say, nervous.

"I'll go get your food." He said, gesturing towards the kitchen.

"Ok, you do that." She said, laughing at how nervous he was.

Luke walked back into the kitchen. Lorelai had realized that he didn't give her any coffee, so she went around the back of the counter, grabbed a cup, and poured it for her herself. She walked back, looking at Jen, smiling while sipping her coffee.

"Are you guys real good friends?" Jen asked.

"Oh yeah, the coffee is the best here." Lorelai joked.

Jen laughed a little, "No, you and Luke."

"Oh no he just came along in the package. I didn't necessarily ask for him." She kidded again.

Jen was a little confused. She couldn't tell if Luke and Lorelai were dating. He didn't introduce her as his girlfriend, so she thought that they were good friends, and nothing more than that. When Luke walked out of the kitchen and gave Lorelai her food, she gestured her hand for him to come next to her. He walked around the counter and stared at Lorelai expectantly. Lorelai knew she couldn't mark her territory, since nobody in Stars Hollow was supposed to know they were dating, but nobody except a few uncommon customers were there.

"Come here, you're all twisted." She said, pulling at his shirt which was half tucked in his pants, half not.

When she was finished fixing him up, she looked up and smiled at Luke. He smiled back, and she lightly brushed her hand against his arm. He walked back behind he counter, and kneeled down a little, towards Lorelai. He placed his hands on the top of the counter, and Lorelai reached over and started playing with his fingers. Through the corner of her eye, she glanced at Jen to see if she was watching. Lorelai knew Jen was curious, so decided to toy with her mind a little. And since Luke and her were fresh in their relationship, she thought it was okay to flirt once in a while. They continued smiling at each other for a few minutes until Luke heard the bell ring on the door.

Looking at who was coming in, he saw Miss Patty and immediately went to the kitchen feeling pretty safe that she didn't witness anything between him and Lorelai.

"Oh Lorelai, sweetie." Patty said, walking towards Lorelai.

Lorelai hadn't known who walked in, so the voice scent a vibe of nerves through her body. She took a big gulp of coffee, and turned towards Patty who sat down on the other side of her.

"Hi Patty. How are you?" She asked, smiling suspiciously large.

"I'm great darling, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm great. Just fine as ever."

"Well, I figured you'd be over here, so I came to ask if you'd want to join the party committee."

"What party?" Lorelai asked, confused.

"We're having another town festival, and I was wondering if you would be able to help out?"

"Of course, let me know when the time comes."

"No problem, ask Luke if he'll help too, will ya?"

"Whether or not he'll go in on it is a different story, but it's worth a shot." She said smiling at her.

"Okay, I'll see you later, it was nice talking to you. Thanks for the help."

"Anytime." She said, smiling large.

She immediately took another large gulp of her coffee, and realized that Jen was staring at her.

"Miss popular, eh?" Jen joked.

Lorelai laughed a little, "Me? What make's you think that?"

"It seems like everybody loves you here. Miss Patty, Luke..." She said, smiling towards the kitchen.

"Ah, well they're all just great people around here. Really. They may seem like a weird bunch of people, but that's what makes them all so special."

"I bet they are."

"So do you live around here?" Lorelai asked, trying to change the subject.

"New Haven actually."

"Oh yeah? Why are you going to New York?"

"I'm in advertising, and we just got a new account."

"Oh well, good luck with everything." Lorelai said, finishing the last bite of her burger, planning on leaving soon.

"So, how long have you and Luke been dating?" She said curiously.

"Uhh, well...hmm.." She said contemplating what to say.

"You are dating, aren't you?" Jen asked quickly.

"Uhm...well, yeah, uhh--" Lorelai started stuttering until she realized Luke walking up to them. She shot a look to Jen that said, "not in front of the man" and turned to Luke smiling. Lorelai forgot why she was there in the first place, besides seeing Luke of course. Ah yes, she wanted to tell him about Christopher coming back tomorrow, she needed to get him alone with her for a little while, but it wasn't that easy. She'd think of something.

Luke just came to talk to them for a little bit, nothing big, and when he finally left, Jen turned to Lorelai right away.

"So..." She started, trying to encourage the admittance.

"Yes, we are dating." Lorelai blurted out.

"Like I couldn't tell." She said, laughing a little.

"How long has it been?"

"Not long at all. We're very new at this come to think about it. It's only been a few days, but for years and years, there has always been something between us. It's just that now, we're finally doing something about it." She said, trying to make it seem very clear that it wasn't just a fling.

"Well, good for you guys. You look happy with each other." She said, looking at Lorelai, and then glancing towards Luke who was walking back over to them.

"Hey, I'm going to get going. Call me later, mmkay?" Trying to sound cute and flirty.

"Yeah, I will." He said, smiling at her. She stood there smiling at him, and finally reached into her purse, getting some money out. When she reached down to put the money on the counter, Luke pushed her hand away.

"Not today." He said putting her hand in her purse.

"Yeah, we'll see about that later." She said, walking out of the door.

"It was nice meeting you Jen. Good luck in New York."

"Thanks, it was nice meeting you too." She said, waving goodbye.

Lorelai walked out and turned the corner grabbing her cell phone and dialing the number of the diner.

"Lukes." Luke answered.

"Hi, it's me. Uhm, this might sound weird, but could you meet me in the ally? I've got to talk to you for a few minutes."

"Uh, yeah, I'll meet you out there." He hung up, and began walking towards the ally through the back door of the kitchen, Lorelai was already there.

"Hey, you." She said, smiling at him. "Last night was fun. Sleep well?"

"Yeah, it was great. And yes, I did even though I'm tired now." He said, walking up next to her. She stood there smiling at him, and just enjoying the moment, until she realized she should probably tell him about Chris.

"So, what do you need to talk to me about?" He asked.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that Christopher is coming in town tomorrow." Luke cleared his throat and nodded his head.

"Christopher...the uhh..." He began "The man who impregnated me with Rory. I think we've had this rather uncomfortable chit-chat before."

"Huh." He said, staring at the ground. "Why is he coming?" He asked, trying not to sound mad, because he didn't really care, but he just got nervous a little. He finally had Lorelai, after all these years, and he was afraid of any shot of them splitting up. He didn't want that at all.

"I'm not sure. He didn't say. He just said that I shouldn't worry, and that he needs to talk to me...when he gets here."

"So, is he...staying at your place?"

"Neh, I don't think so this time. I think I'll let him stay at the Dragonfly if we have an open room."

"Ah, I see." He said, avoiding eye contact with her. He couldn't show how he really felt for he was afraid that Lorelai would think he's over reacting, since they aren't the most serious couple out there. They both thought on the same page.  
  
"It's nothing, Luke. I don't know what he wants, but whatever it is, I have to listen to him. He won't be here long, it'll all be good. I guess...I guess I just wanted to let you know so that you aren't stunned to see him." She implied. "You're not...mad...are you?" She asked, a little cautious of her tone because she didn't want him to take it the wrong way.

"Not at all," he said walking closer to Lorelai, staring at her. He pulled her into a hug, and kissed her on her cheek as she pulled away. "There's absolutely nothing to be mad about." He said, smiling at her. She knew everything would be fine. Luke understood her on a level that other people didn't.

"Alright, well, I should get going." He said, gesturing back towards the diner.

"Oh yeah, well, hey call me later, ok? We should talk tonight." She said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, I'll call you." He said, leaning in to kiss her. It started out easy, but she quickly wrapped her arms around him and pushing him against the back door, stepping up the kiss a level. She pulled away very sudden, and smiled at him.

"I'll come over later, maybe." He said hesitantly. She began to smile at him.

"Dirty!"

"We'll see about that. I'll call." He said, beginning to walk towards the door.

"Luke." She called before he walked in. He turned around, glanced at her, and waited for her to continue.

"What's the haps with you and Jen? Ex girlfriend?" She asked, not concerned, just curious.

"We were 15. There's nothing to worry about." He implied.

She smiled at him. "I know." She said, and began to walk away. But the thing was, that she did know that there was nothing to worry about. Luke had been carrying a torch for her for years, and of course, she saw all the hints and clues, but never wanted to admit anything to him, or better yet herself. She knew that he wouldn't mess anything up. And she felt pretty confident that she wouldn't mess things up either. She was unsure of where the stood though. She didn't know if they were, just dating, or if she could refer to him as "Luke, my boyfriend." Or if it was right to just kiss him on a normal basis when she see's him, but she liked the suspense. She liked not knowing, and that was what was interesting about their relationship. They were together, but unofficially. He didn't say anything, and she didn't say anything. For the meantime, nobody said anything because to everybody else, except Rory and Sookie, there was nothing to talk about. They were still the same old, 'friends.'

"Right." She said, giggling to herself. At around 7, Lorelai and Rory collapsed onto the couch. They had been cleaning the house for their 'visitor' to make sure that things looked clean and presentable.

"That was fun." Lorelai said while placing her legs onto the coffee table.

"That's one way to put it." Rory said, repeating the position.

The phone rang, and the girls fought over who should get it. Lorelai lost. She got up and right before the 5th ring, answered it.

"We're not home!" She said, while picking up the phone and staring and sticking her tounge out at Rory.

"Hey it's me" Luke said.

"Oh, yeah I guess we are home. What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that it's really busy over here, Taylor brought over some of his 'friends' and I think I might just accidently spit in somebody's food."

"Yum, sounds good. So, can't stop by tonight? Me and Rory just pulled the plaid shirts and baseball hats out of the closet. We look really cute." She joked.

"I'm sure you do. Sorry, so I'll talk to you later. Ok?"

"We'll see how I'm feeling...hold on the hat's trying to tell me something. 'What? Oh no, Luke isn't coming because he's scared to show off his plaid to my plaid. Sorry'"

"You know you're not funny."

"Come on, I'm a little funny." She insisted.

"Talk to you later."

"Bye." She hung up and walked back over to Rory.

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Rory asked.

"Pizza?" Lorelai suggested.

"I'll order it." Rory said getting up to go call the pizza place.

They spent the night inside, eating pizza and watching movies. Nothing special. At around 10:00, Lorelai went to sleep, very tired. She sat in her bed though, thinking about Luke, and about Christopher. Curious to know what he wanted, yet again, she found herself in the position that waiting till tomorrow was the next best thing. That feeling was beginning to feel normal.

Up Next: All Is Well and Then The Rain Falls


	7. All Is Well And Then The Rain Falls

Authors Note: This chapter is actually a lot longer than the others, and is a little more dramatic! So enjoy! Please review! Let me know what you think! Thank you to all the reviewers out there, a lot who deserve somethin more than this--you know who you all are! Happy reading!

Just a Reminder: There all mine. No there not.

Chapter Seven: All Is Well and Then The Rain Falls

It was around 12:45 the next morning when Lorelai was in the kitchen exchanging gossip about both of their love lives.

Michel walked through the kitchen door, and stared at the two as if they we're the stupidest things to have crossed the world.

"Yes Michel?" Lorelai asked.

"There is some man here to see you."

"Are you sure it's not my mother?"

"Unless your mother is a spitting image of a tall, man with brown hair then yes, I'm sure."

They both walked out of the kitchen and headed towards the front desk. Lorelai didn't see anybody at first, but then glanced towards the lobby and saw that Christopher was sitting down in one of the chairs.

"Hello stranger." She said. Christopher stood up, and looked at Lorelai. He gave her a hug, and kiss on the cheek.

"I do believe I know you."

"Yes, I think you do. How are you Chris?" Lorelai said, diving into the conversation.

"I'm alright, how about you? Still maintaining that girl?" He said, referring to Rory.

"Yeah. It's hard. But we are friends. She french braids my hair and then I'm nice to her."

They walked over to the front, and Lorelai went behind the desk, opening up a file in the computer. Chris just stared at her. Thinking about how much he still loved Lorelai. It's not like he just realized his love for her, but it was the love that had never left. It was somewhat a mutual feeling, but that wasn't Lorelai's first priority.

"So, you're staying here?" She asked, looking up at him from the computer.

"Yeah, I think so. Got room for me?"

"Yeah, we have one open room."

They both walked up to his room. Lorelai gave him the quick tour, and then started to head for the door, right before opening it, she turned around and walked back towards Christopher who was sitting on the couch.

"So Chris..." She said, trying to start something up. He stared at her, smiling. Just looking at her like she was his. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Finally, Lorelai sat down, on the couch right next to him. He placed a hand on her leg. She sat there, confused. She didn't know what was going on.

"Not now." He said.

"What?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now. Not here, not today. Tomorrow, what are you doing after work?" He asked.

"I was probably just going to head over to Lukes or something..."

"Skip Lukes for the afternoon. Meet me in my room tomorrow before you are leaving. I want to talk to you at your house."

"Rory won't be home tomorrow though. She wants to see you."

"She'll see me. I promise. It's just...I think it's better that I talk to you in private."

"You're starting to scare me Chris." She said, trying not to sound concerned but she really was. What did he want?

"There's no need to be scared. So I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe I'll see you if I come down their later."

Lorelai stood up and walked to the door. Right before she opened the door, she turned around and just stared at him. No smiling, just staring. She opened the door, and shut it behind her not looking back. She walked back down to the kitchen and told Sookie what was going on. Lorelai was anxious to get out of the Inn. But it was only 1:00, and she knew that was impossible. So, she told Sookie that she was going out to Luke's for lunch and that she'd be back soon.

She wanted to see Luke more than anyone right now. She loved seeing him. He gave her those endless butterflies in her stomach. She felt like a kid. She walked to the diner, thinking about things. It finally hit her that maybe Chris wasn't with Sherry anymore, and that's what he wanted to tell her. But why is he making such a big deal of it? She thought to herself. She didn't know what was going on. When she got to the diner, she made eye contact with Luke right away. She wanted to just hug him. Which sounded weird, but she needed to give somebody a hug because she was confused. She didn't want Chris to be here right now, right when everything is going good. She didn't want him to ruin her happiness. She walked to the counter, and pointed her head towards the storage room. Luke got the clue, and they walked into the storage room.

"Hey"

"Hi." She said, leaning in to pull him into a hug. She hugged him for a long time. Luke didn't think it was weird. He knew from the second that she walked in that she She pulled away a moment later, and sighed loudly.

"Maybe I'm over reacting?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Maybe, he's just here to tell me something about his business, or about how great his life is. He said he wants to talk to me tomorrow after work, in private. I just can't help myself to think that it's something bad. I hate that feeling."

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Luke said, as Lorelai pulled him into yet another hug.

"I hope." She said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I'm just anxious to find out, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it."

"Well, I'm going to get back to the Inn." She said pulling away.

"Hey-Do you want to come over tonight, we could watch a movie or get food or something. Rory isn't going to be home, so I think I'll be pretty lonely." She said, giving him a pout.

"Yeah sure. I'll have Caesar close up for me. See ya around 7:00?"

"See you then." Lorelai gave him a hug goodbye, and left the diner and headed back to the Inn and immediately went to the kitchen to talk with Sookie.

"So how are you two love birds? Have...you know..."

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"No, I don't believe I do...are you talking about whether or not..." Lorelai began.

"You've slept with each other." Sookie completed.

"Oh god no. Are you kidding me? It hasn't even been a week. I mean sure the thought has crossed my mind, and well maybe it'd be nice, but..no, what am I talking about. It's too soon isn't it? Actually don't anwser that It's not even like we made our 'big public appearance'."

"Oh yeah, how does that feel?"

"I don't know. I don't really mind it being between the two of us, but I sort of want people to know. You know what I mean?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, you want the town to know that you guys are finally together?"

"What do you mean?"

"Lorelai. Quit acting stupid. You know I love you, but you also know that you and Luke have been inevitable since you moved here. Everybody knew it, including you and Luke. Don't lie to me of all people. I'm your best friend. You can admit that you knew it!"

"I don't know. At times, I used to think that there was something there, but I think that the reason we didn't notice it as much is because there was always somebody else. I had Max, Alex, Christopher, he had Rachel, Nicole...and when neither of us were with somebody, we just didn't realize it because it was one of those things where we thought it was silly. Well, truthfully, I have no idea what he was thinking, but that's what I was thinking. I never really thought that it would happen because gosh, Sookie, Luke and I are great friends. He's easily one of my best friends. Sometimes, I still think that it's a huge risk at our friendship, but things are looking good. Besides Chris being here, but that's a whole different story. Have you seen him down here?"

"Yeah, actually he came down to get something to eat. I'm not sure where he was headed though."

"Did you guys...I don't know...talk about anything?" Lorelai asked curiously.

"Oh, no, he just asked how I was, and how Jackson and the baby were. I was surprised he knew."

"Yeah, surprising."

"So, what do you think he's here for?" Sookie asked.

"I don't know. I can't think of something he needs to tell me. Maybe it's something completely different than all of the things I've thought about. Maybe he wants to tell me he's moving, or Sherry's pregnant again? I don't know. I just don't think it's something like that because why would be so concerned about where, and when to tell me?"

"Yeah, that is a little suspicious. But hey, you'll find out soon. When do you think he'll bring it up?"

"Tomorrow. I'm taking him back home with me after work, he wants to tell me. But, for the meantime, I better get back to the front so that I can leave here sometime today. Luke's going to come over tonight."

"Ooh! Sounds like fun! See ya later, sweetie."

Lorelai gave Sookie a hug. It felt like forever since they have talked. With all the fuss about the Inn, and the baby, and Luke, they haven't really gotten to spend a lot of time together.

"Sookie?" Lorelai called before walking out of the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go to dinner or a movie sometime this week. I feel like we haven't talked enough lately."

"I was thinking the same thing." Lorelai walked back to the front desk and stayed up there doing work for the rest of the day. She kept a look out for Christopher, but she never saw him come back. It wasn't until about 5:30 until Lorelai left. She had to stay a little later than usual to help set up for a business party tonight. She drove back to the house and came home to a note from Rory.

_Hi Mom,  
I went out shopping with Lane for a little while. Then, I'm going back towards Yale. I have a meeting with Mrs. Keely for the internship next year. I probably won't be home till later, so don't wait up for me. Call me if you get lonely. Love, Rory_

So, she would be alone with Luke tonight. The conversation between her and Sookie flashed through her mind. About them getting more...serious. She wanted to take this relationship slow, but not _too_ slow, right? She didn't want to mess up because she thought it was more special this time. Maybe it's because they have been friends for so long. Who know's.

At around 7:00, Luke rang the bell. Lorelai was just putting on a pair of little terry cloth shorts and a tank top. She threw her hair straightened hair up in a pony tail, and ran down the stairs to open the door.  
  
"Hey" she said, opening the door and pulling on Luke's plaid flannel. She turned him around and kissed him on the lips. Being spontaneous was fun. She knew that it felt weird to just kiss him so easily, but she also new that he didn't care. And she didn't either.

"Hi" He said, after they pulled away.

"It's hot in here"

"Yes, which is why I'm wearing a bare minimum of clothes at the moment."

"Oh, so that explains the outfit." He said smiling at her.

"Funny. Yeah, sorry. I wasn't necessarily trying to 'look cute' for you."

"Yeah, no need to try." He was good at the whole compliment thing, she thought to herself.

"Here come on." She grabbed his hand and lead him into the living room. He sat down on the couch, and she just stood in front of him.

"Want a beer or something?" She asked.

"Sure."

"Okay, I'll be right back." She walked into the kitchen, and grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge. It made a familiar squeaking sound, that aggravated her.

"Stupid yodeling fridge." She said while walking back into the living room.

Luke was flipping through the channels and stopped on a baseball game.

"Absolutely not" Lorelai said as she took a seat next to him.

"Come on, just a little while?"

"If you're good at watching while we fight for the remote, then okay."

Lorelai reached over to grab the remote from Luke's hand. He leaned back against the arm of the couch with his hands hanging behind him. Lorelai leaned in against him, trying to bend over and get the remote. He dropped the remote on the floor, and immediately kissed Lorelai. As his tongue entered her mouth, a shock of sensation ran through her body. He replaced his arms so that they were on her back, securely holding her. He ran his hands against her back, and lowered them to her hips. At this point, she was just about lying on top of him, but his head was propped up against the arm of the couch still. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until she hopped off, and ran to get the remote.

She picked up the remote, and walked around the back of the couch. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Don't think you can trick me." She walked back to the seat where Luke was lying on the couch.

"You're hogging all the space." She said, trying to push him over, but he didn't move. So, she lied on the side of him, even though there wasn't so much room. So he put one arm around her stomach, holding her. She flipped through the channels, and saw Spider Man. They watched the whole movie in that position, except for moving a few occasional times to take a sip of their beer.

"That's such a great movie." She said, as the end credits started to play. She turned her head, so that she was facing him, with her face only inches away from his.

"I guess so."

"But, I hate movies like that at the same time. I can't stand watching a movie where there are two characters that you know will be together in the end, but they drag it out the whole movie. I just think...why? You know they're going to end up together, so why not make it sooner?"

He looked into her eyes, and just grinned at her.

"It would take the fun out of the movie."

"No, then we could watch them while there together. That would be fun." She said. She leaned in and pecked him on the lips, smiling through the kiss, she pulled away. She sat up, and took a long sip of her beer. He did the same. When they both but there bottles down, Lorelai crossed her legs, and faced Luke.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever think about us...you and I...becoming a couple before?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. Sookie told me that the whole town thought you and I would eventually become...I don't know...something. Did you ever picture us becoming something?"

Luke sighed, and just thought for a moment. He wasn't sure what to say. Of course he always thought about them being together, but he didn't want to say something that she wouldn't want to hear. He knew that she never was interested in him before. Or was she?

"Yeah, I guess so. You know, I've always...well, I've always liked you. Even though you were annoying when you first came to town, I learned to deal with you."

"Ouch. That hurts." She said, acting upset.

"But yeah, I did always imagine us becoming something, sometime. Really, after Rachel left me, but you were with, what's his face..." Luke said, acting like he forgot Max's name, but he really new exactly who he was talking about.

"Max." Lorelai completed.

"Yeah. Did you ever think so?"

"Not really." Lorelai said. Luke all of a sudden looked...disappointed.

"Not that it means I didn't want us to be something. I just never imagined you wanting anything from me. Other than harassing me for eating junk food and drinking coffee." She said smiling at him.

"Why wouldn't I want something with you? You are amazing."

Lorelai blushed a little. And you could tell that Luke was a little embarrassed. "Because I'm annoying, and stubborn, and I hate to loose, and I always mock you, and I always tease you for wearing plaid and baseball hats, even though let me say it is sexy, and because I always drink coffee and eat burgers which you hate, and I'm insanely funny, which you know is true, but you just have this hate for humor. I could go on and on..." Lorelai stated, grinning at him.

"Or, I could like you because you are nice, sweet, caring, funny-which I like to some extent, and beautiful, and smart, and one of the most incredible woman I've ever met." He paused. "And because you are my best friend."

They sat there in silence for a few moments, just looking at each other and enjoying the moment. Lorelai felt tears run to her eyes, but immediately held them back. She never heard Luke say something so...so sweet, he completely blew her over.

"You know you are something special." She said, leaning in towards him. He put his arm around her, and she leaned against his chest.

"With you I am." He said. He was feeling...I don't know, 'in the moment.' As Rory would say, they were having one of those moments that are so special that it almost depresses you because you know things will never be so perfect again, and he didn't want to be the one to ruin it. Lorelai sat there thinking for a few moments.

"Aren't you curious as to why I like you?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, actually I am."

"Because you have coffee." Lorelai said smiling at him.

"Great to know." He said dryly.

"And...because you are nice, and...well we all know sexy," she giggled a little, "and wise and you are the most caring guy that I know. Sure other people don't see the other side of you that I see, but you have always stood by me. Through out all the stupid decisions, and moves I've made in the past, you never left my side. You've always been the best friend a girl could ask for. And if Rory or Sookie heard me, they'd probably be offended, so let's keep that between you and I." She smiled at him and he pulled her into a hug. He placed a small kiss on her forehead and held her head, stroking her hair.

About an hour later, after they had watched 2 re-runs of the Donna Reed show, Luke hoped off the couch.

"I should get going." Lorelai held out her hands so that he would help her get up. He pulled her up, and immediately pulled her into a strong kiss. He started walking towards the door while still holding and kissing her. He bumped into the staircase, and they broke apart. Lorelai glanced up the stairs and looked towards her bedroom. 'No' she thought to herself. She quickly leaned in to continue the kissing, as she held his hands and led him to the door. She was pressed against the door, and then pulled away, and looked up the stairs another time. 'Not yet' she said to herself.

"Tonight was fun," she said smiling at him.

"Yeah."

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah...you're going to be with Chris for part of the day, right?"

Why did he have to bring him up. She was enjoying herself so much and didn't want to think of him. She automatically became disappointed, but forced a half smile and nodded.

"Okay, well call me tomorrow, or just come stop by."

"I will." She said. She leaned in a kissed him. The whole kissing thing was getting more comfortable, as they were doing it more. Lorelai opened the door and watched him leave. She went straight upstairs, and passed out on her bed for the night.

She woke up in the morning and Rory was still sleeping. She wanted to tell her about her movie night with Luke, but realized she'd have to wait till later. She got dressed, and headed for work by about 10. She was going to go in late, and leave as early as possible. She was dreading the day.

The day was slow. She didn't see Chris in the morning. It was about 2:00 when Lorelai finished up all her work. She glanced up the stairs, and began to head to room 11. She sat in front of the door, for a few moments, but finally gained the courage to knock. Chris answered quickly.

"Hey Lor, I'll be ready to go in a second" he said, while heading towards the bedroom and put his shoes on.

"How has the stay been?" She asked while following him to his room.

"It's been great. I walked around a little bit yesterday, and today I went to some shops in Hartford, I'm looking for a specific sandal that I can't find anywhere." He said as he began to stand up. Lorelai smiled to herself. She loved the fact that he liked to shop. Luke wasn't like that at all. But you can't have everything and what she has is more than enough.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Let's go." They headed towards the car and Lorelai drove back to the house. They didn't talk in the car. When the arrived to the house, they went straight to the living room and sat on the couch.

"So, want to explain what's going on?" Lorelai said, diving right into the conversation.

Chris sighed, and looked Lorelai straight in the eye. "I left Sherry."

All of a sudden, Lorelai got a horrible feeling in her gut. It was exactly what she didn't want to hear. She knew something like this was coming though. She sat there in disbelief. She thought about the responsibilities he left, the baby, the father role, for a second time. He was getting good at this, and Lorelai was pissed.

"What about Sherry? And the baby? And your responsibilities as a father, Christopher?" She was very serious, and he knew it. He knew that she wouldn't be happy with him.

"I'm going to be active in her life. But I can't be with her Lorelai, when clearly, _you_ are the one I want to be with."

Lorelai sat there, shocked. Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped. She didn't know what to say. She wasn't in a very civil mood, and didn't want to begin a fight, but the conversation lead to one anyways.

"You know what? You're pretty good at this, aren't you? Getting women knocked up and then running. Christopher, you need to look at what you are doing. You need to be there for this baby. I want this baby to have a father, unlike Rory did. I want you to take lead, and do what you're supposed to do." She gasped for air, "Come on Chris, you have to be mature."

"But Lor, I'm going too. I know that things didn't go right with Rory, but they will this time. I'm going to help Sherry out, and try to be a part of her life as much as I can, but Lor, you didn't hear me before, I want to be with _you. It's always been you_, and here I am attempting to restart something we once had."

He leaned in closer to her. She didn't realize what was going on. Before she knew it, he was kissing her. After a moment, she realized what was happening.

"GET OUT!" She screamed. "You can't come in here, and start things with me. You have to understand that I don't want to be with you. I am happy with who I have, and things are going to stay that way." She began to tear up. "You can't just think you can waltz back into my life, because I'm sorry babe, but I've learned to live without you, and your help. Whether or not Sherry will, I just don't know, but you need to leave, and go somewhere else. Somewhere far, far away from here." She warned. "I knew this was a bad idea. You coming here, I knew this would end bad. You shouldn't have came here in the first place."

Christopher was upset. He couldn't yell back at her. He had to interpret everything that she just said. 'I'm happy with who I have' ran through his head.

"We don't have to end this bad. We can start things over between us...between us, and Rory. We could try to make things work, Lor." He stated.

She sat there, staring at him in amazement. In amazement to how oblivious he was, to how he kept trying and never gave up. She looked at him with pity, and felt bad for the guy. He needed to realize that she didn't want him back. But he didn't realize things so quickly.

"Chris I think you should leave." He got up, and walked towards the door. He wasn't going to keep pushing her buttons. At least not now, or here because he didn't see her understanding him. At least today.

"Obviously it was wrong for you to come in the first place." She said, opening the door for him. He walked out and she shut it right behind him, and went straight up to her room and just sat and cried. She replayed all the images in her head. Of him telling her he left Sherry, of him kissing her, of how hurt he looked when she kicked him out.

But she didn't care how he felt. Why should she? He didn't care about how she felt.

Up Next: A 'Good Lord', A Good Guy, and A Goodbye

A/N: Let's not forget Lukeee. I wonder how he'll respond. Hmmm =) Review, please?!


	8. A 'Good Lord', A Good Guy, and A Goodbye

Authors Note: Thanks again for the reviews! I _really _appreciate them! So this continues after Chris left...what's Luke gunna do? Who know's. lol, have fun reading.

Just a Reminder: Not mine..

Chapter Eight: A 'Good Lord', A Good Guy, and A Goodbye  
  
Lorelai fell asleep, crying to herself. It wasn't until around 7 when Rory came home and walked into her room.  
  
"Mom?" She whispered, trying to see if she was awake or not.  
  
Lorelai turned over, and looked at Rory. Rory could tell that she had been crying, her eyes were puffy and red, overall she looked bad. She had mascara on her face and on her white pillowcase. She forced a smile, and Rory sat on the bed.  
  
"Mom? What's the matter? Are you okay?" Rory asked concerned.  
  
Lorelai sat there for a second. She was glad that Christopher was gone. The only thing that she was scared about, was telling Luke that he kissed her. Things were beginning to get so great with Luke, and she didn't want him to loose all trust in her. It's not like it was her fault though. After a little explaining, she was sure he'd understand. Hopefully.  
  
"I'll be fine."  
  
"What happend?"  
  
"Your dad came here. He told me that he wanted to be with me."  
  
"But, what about...Sherry...and the baby?" Rory asked.  
  
"He left them. He pulled another 'Christopher.'"  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"He's running away from his problems again. And he wanted to come here and be with me. He wanted to hide from reality, kid, and I hope you aren't planning on doing that." Lorelai said, placing her hand on Rorys arm.  
  
"I'm not, mom. I promise." They sat there in silence for a few minutes. "Did something else happen?"  
  
Lorelai didn't say anything for a while, finally she got the strength to. "He kissed me." She said quietly.  
  
"Oh." Rory didn't know what to say. She felt bad for her mom, "It's not going to be that bad. I'm sure...you know...Luke's an understanding guy."  
  
"I know."  
  
They talked for a little while, got dinner from Teriyaki Joes, and watched a movie. At around 9:30, Lorelai went to Rory's room, where she sat on her bed, indulged in a book. 'Surprise, surprise' Lorelai thought to herself.  
  
"Hey, I'm going over to Lukes, ok?"  
  
"Alright. It's getting late though...don't be out to late missy."  
  
Lorelai drove over to the diner. She parked and strolled up to the front door. The big black letters that said CLOSED stood out to Lorelai but that didn't stop her from going in there. As the bells jingled, Luke came out from the storage room and saw Lorelai. He was concerned from the second he saw her. She looked like a mess. She was wearing a pair of grey sweat pants with slits going up the legs, and a white teeshirt with a stain in the middle. Her hair was flopped up in a high ponytail.  
  
She stood there, staring at Luke. He returned the stare. Neither of them smiled. They just looked at eachother. He knew something was wrong. She knew that he knew something was wrong. She walked over, behind the counter and wrapped her arms around Luke, hugging him as tight as possible. He didn't hesitate to do the same. He loved having her in his arms.  
  
"Gosh it feels good to hug somebody that I..." She bit her tounge, "Like."  
  
"What does that mean?" He said pulling away and looking at her.  
  
Lorelai propped herself on the counter. She knew Luke hated it from the second she jumped up there. She didn't care though. What was he going to do about it? He shot her a look of disdain and stood in front of her with his hands on her thighs. She stared at him in the eyes, wanting to get it over with. She just wanted to tell him what Christopher said...and did. It wasn't that big of a deal, but she just wanted to be honest with him.  
  
"Luke..." she began, finally gaining the courage to talk, "Chris left Sherry."  
  
She stopped talking. She didn't know where to go from there. Rambling and babbling is what she does best.  
  
"Chris left Sherry. And the baby. He's getting good at that, isn't he?" She gave herself a pitiful laugh, while shaking her head. "And he said he wants to be with me. He said that he thought that I was always the one for him. Before I know it, he's kissing me."  
  
"Good Lord." Luke said having no idea where this conversation was headed.  
  
Lorelai ignored his last comment, and continued. "It took me a second to realize what he was doing but I pulled away. I screamed at him, I feel bad. I feel bad for the poor guy, he needs a reality check. For real, no movie lines intended. I told him to get out. He left, and I just sat in my room and thought in the dark about...everything."  
  
Luke was getting angry. He didn't know what Lorelai was thinking. Letting Chris kiss her like that? Sure she pulled away, but didn't she see it coming?  
  
"Oh yeah?" Luke started, sounding...pissed, "why did you tell him to leave, Lorelai?" He asked, looking in the other direction.  
  
"Because he's not that one that I thought was always for me." She looked at Luke who's eyes were focused out the window. She grabbed his face and turned him so that he was looking at her. "Because after all this time, I've figured that you were always the one for me."  
  
They both just stood there in silence, looking at eachother. Looking at eachother deeper than usual. Lorelai could almost see through Luke. He saw the same. Lorelai didn't know where that last remark came from. Sure it was true, but she was surprised that she actually told him. It had been about a little over a week since things have began to heat up with her and Luke, but she never thought of herself to be so forward.  
  
A single tear rolled down Lorelais cheek. Not because she was sad, but because she was relieved. A smile appeared on Luke's face, and he quickly pressed his lips against Lorelai's. He wrapped his arms around her waist, while she wrapped her legs around his, still sitting on the counter. There kissing was passionate, and intense. It was as if they just said I love you to eachother, but they hadn't. They _didn't_ need something like that to make them become this close. All they needed was an ounce of realization.  
  
Lorelai pulled away and sadly smiled at Luke. "You are amazing, do you know that?"  
  
He smiled and nodded in approval. His hands gently stroked the lines of Lorelai's face for a second. "You're beautiful."  
  
"Yeah well you're hot too. You know we'd make really cute kids."  
  
Luke gave her a quick look of confusion. "Joke...joke. But they would be cute." She said.  
  
"You're weird. Anyone ever tell you that?"  
  
"Well, you do...and Rory...and my mom, but she shouldn't talk, so...yeah I'm weird."  
  
Lorelai yawned 2 times in a row. She was out of her mind tired from a stressful day.  
  
"Go home, you look tired."  
  
"No I'm..." she yawned again. "Going to get going."  
  
She hopped off of the counter and raised her hands against Luke's chest, leaning in and kissing him goodbye.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow." He said, walking her towards the door.  
  
"We'll see how lucky you are..."  
  
"What you mean you aren't coming?"  
  
"You're not funny."  
  
She flashed him one of those sexy-pouts that Luke always fell for. She walked out, and closed the door behind her.  
  
"What a good guy" she said quietly.  
  
When she got home, she went to Rory's room who was on the computer researching hotels.  
  
"The road trip...any updates?" Lorelai said as she sat down on Rory's bed.  
  
"Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."  
  
"Continue...I'm listening."  
  
"I think Lane and I are going to Chicago."  
  
Lorelai gasped. "Chicago is amazing. I almost considered living there."  
  
"What happend?"  
  
"History class ended."  
  
"Ah. So you know a little bit about the windy city, huh?"  
  
"I pretend I do. I was there once with your grandparents for a wedding. It was on the top of the John Hancock building, and it was at night so I saw the most beautiful scene of the skyline."  
  
"Yeah, well Lane has really wanted to go there, and I have no complaints going there, so why not? I've heard there are some pretty amazing places around there."  
  
"Yeah, there are. I wish I could come." Lorelai said, fantasizing about leaving Stars Hollow. Although she loved her town, sometimes a break seemed so good.  
  
"That'd be fun. But, you have work missy. And Luke..."  
  
"Ah, yes. Luke." She said smiling to herself. "So when are you leaving?"  
  
"We're planning on leaving Saturday. Lane tried to get me to leave on Friday but I knew that I couldn't escape dinner. So, we're planning on hitting the road first thing in the morning."  
  
"Yeah, and who do you think is going to get you to wake up?"  
  
"Luke's coffee. So be prepared to make an early appearance."  
  
"Ha, ya right. You can just come say goodbye, and I'll continue sleeping."  
  
"Quit dreaming."  
  
"What? It's the first weekend in a while that I don't have to work. We've been having so many parties lately. But enough with that, how long does it take you to get to Chicago?"  
  
"I'm not positive, it's about 15 hours, give or take a little. You know, with Lane and I we'll probably be going about 100 MPH so we might make record time."  
  
"Oh no you won't be."  
  
They were quiet for a little while. Rory thought about how things would be when she got home, and Lorelai thought about what it'd be like to have a house to herself when she's got Luke.  
  
"How long are you planning on being there?"  
  
"I don't know. Not too long, but long enough to see everything."  
  
"And in Lorelai language that means..."  
  
"3 weeks."  
  
"3 weeks? That's like...well I know it's 3/4's of a month but I don't know what is to a year? 1/17?"  
  
"What in the world are you talking about?"  
  
"That's a long time. You better get ready to write and call me everyday."  
  
"Yeah well I'm bringing my laptop, so we can continue our once loved email connection. One a day, everyday."  
  
"You can count on that."  
  
"Enough about me. Is everything okay with you and Luke?"  
  
"Yeah. He's such a great guy, Rory. Why didn't you ever convince me to be with him before?" Lorelai said grinning at Rory.  
  
"WHAT? Are you being honest? The whole town told you, and Luke. Don't play stupid, Cleopatra queen of Deni--"  
  
"Don't even think of finishing that sentence."  
  
"Yeah, okay."  
  
"It's just that...when I'm with him, everything seems so right. I never really got this feeling around an of my other...pets, not saying I didn't like them..."  
  
"Did you just call your ex-boyfriends your pets?"  
  
"Yes, sorry. Are you too young for this conversation?"  
  
"You need help. You are _so_ weird."  
  
"I know, and you are perfectly sane yourself."  
  
"Well, I'm going upstairs, I'm so tired. I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep during our thrilling conversation. I'll see you in the morning, love ya babe." Lorelai said while leaning over and giving Rory a kiss goodnight.  
  
"You too, mom."  
  
Lorelai went up to her room. Suddenly she wasn't that tired. She sat in bed thinking about Christopher. 'Why does he think he could just come and intrude into my life?' I guess I should have told him about Luke, huh? Luke's such a great guy. Everybody should know, it's not like I'm ashamed of him. Hell, anybody would be lucky to have Luke.' She thought to herself.  
  
She glanced at the clock that read 10:30. 'Too late to call Luke? Neh' She picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi, this is Amy. I came into your coffee shop the other day, and...I don't know if you remember me but we hit it off, and I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me sometime?" Lorelai said in a high pitched voice.  
  
"It's so good to hear from you. I've been thinking about you ever since you came into the diner." He said, completely aware that it was Lorelai.  
  
"Luke!" Lorelai screeched.  
  
"But I'm sorry Amy, I already have a girlfriend. An amazing one. And although you were cute, I'm afraid she's a little bit better looking."  
  
Lorelai smiled to herself. 'He called me his girlfriend' "Yeah you better say that." Lorelai said.  
  
"Lorelai? Is that you?"  
  
"Since when have you become Mr. Jokester?"  
  
"Don't call me Mr. Jokester." Luke said sternly.  
  
"Ah, there you are. Hi."  
  
"Didn't we already say hi to eachother?"  
  
"Yeah sorry, please forgive me. So I was thinking..."  
  
"That's not good..."  
  
Lorelai ignored him. "I thought that why don't we...I don't know, become...un-discreet. It would make this whole dating thing...easier."  
  
Luke pondered for a moment.  
  
"Hello? What are you doing."  
  
"Thinking."  
  
"You think slow."  
  
"So you want to...tell everybody?"  
  
"Yeah I was thinking of putting up posters everywhere saying, "LUKE AND LORELAI ARE FINALLY TOGETHER. GO US! No you crazy man, I'm not going to go tell everybody, but we'll just show people. I think they'll get the clue if they ever see me kissing you. It's not like I'm that desperate for coffee."  
  
"Excuse me." Luke hissed.  
  
"I was kidding."  
  
"You sure about this? I mean, I'm fine with being...discreet."  
  
"No, I'm sure. I want people to know. Have you realized what a hot couple we make?"  
  
"Goodnight Lorelai."  
  
"Goodnight Lukey."  
  
"Don't call me Lukey."  
  
They hung up and Lorelai went to bed, happy about the decision they made.  
  
Up Next: What Happens when the Inevitable Does

A/N: So things are good with them...but...who know's what may come in the future! ;-). Anyways, sorry that there isn't a lot of Dean and Rory stuff. I'm not a big fan of Rory's love life, I'm just completely obsessed with the thought of Luke and Lorelai _finally _becoming something. I actually prefer Rory to be with Jess, but I don't think he'll be in this story. I think I'll talk about her road trip ever so often, so don't get confused if I just...forget about her. :) Review, please?! The next chapter will be up soon! That is if you want it! ...


	9. What Happens When The Inevitable Does

Authors Note: Thank you all for the reviews! They mean a lot! A just want to give you a small spoiler about my story: I know I threw Chris in there for a little confusion, and of course nobody liked it...but I've already written up to Chapter 12 and there is some later drama, that...you probably won't be high-fiving me about, but...there's gotta be some drama, right? So just keep this in mind: **I am one of the biggest Javajunkie fans out there! **Hope you still read it!

Just A Reminder: All play, not real.

Chapter Nine: What Happens with the Inevitable Does

It was Thursday morning when Lorelai got out of her bed at 8:00.

'Crap, I'm late to work'

She got ready as quickly as possible, and ran to the Inn.  
  
"You are late" Michel said hasty.

"Really? Because I couldn't tell." She said rushing into the kitchen leaving Michel behind.

"Coffee!" She screamed while walking towards the coffee pots. "Sookie?"

"I'm here! I'm here!" She said running out one of the storage rooms.

"What's goin on babe?" Lorelai asked.

"Nothing. Hectic breakfast crowd. That family that's here is so loud and needy."

"What family?"

"The family of 20. They came down at 6 in the morning singing songs and they all ordered the most random things off the menu. Then they played musical chairs."

"They played musical chairs?"

"No, but I thought it'd be funny if they did."

"And people think I'm weird." Lorelai said, shaking her head.

"Oh no honey, that's because _you are_."

"Thanks for the love." She said, walking out of the kitchen.

The rest of the morning went by quickly. At around 1:00, Lorelai went into the kitchen to tell Sookie she was going to go to the diner quickly to get some lunch and that she'd be back soon.

When Lorelai got to the diner, she took a seat next to Miss Patty and Babette at the counter.

"How ya doin sugar?" Babette asked

"I'm great, thanks. How are you guys?"

"Well, we're good. We've been watching Luke this morning, he looks so much happier than usual." Patty said.

Lorelai grinned to herself until she heard the jingle above the door.

"Lorelai." A man stated.

"She's not here!" She said in a high pitched voice, not turning around.

Somebody placed a hand on Lorelais shoulder.

"Come talk to me."

"Jason?" She said quickly turning around.

"Lorelai. I've been thinking about you for the past week, non stop. I've been looking at the picture of us from that party your mother and father made us go to, together. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, and I'm not going to lose something that special to me."

"Well you've already lost me." Lorelai didn't care how harsh her words were. She was being flat out honest.

"I'm sure there's something that I could do. Just tell me Lorelai, anything. Anything you want."

"I want you..." she paused, teasing the poor guy a little, "...to leave."

Patty and Babette sat there laughing in the background.

"You tell him sweetie!" Babette said quietly.

Sounding aggravated, he asked, "why?"

Luke walked out of the kitchen and saw what was going on. He gave Jason a look of hate, and continued watching the conversation. Lorelai turned and saw Luke coming out, relieved.

"This sure wasn't my way of becoming un-discreet." She said quietly so that only she could hear her.

"Because Jason, I'm dating...Luke. Yeah, I'm dating Luke." She said as if she was pretending that they were together, when they really weren't. Lorelai flashed Luke a weird smile and looked back at Jason.

Patty and Babette smiled at eachother, going along with what they thought was a joke. As much as they wanted Luke and Lorelai to really be together, they knew that they were both to scared to admit anything.

" I don't believe you Lorelai."

"Well, believe it cause it's true."

Lorelai looked at Luke who was holding the coffee pot behind the counter. She walked up to him, removed it from his hands and kissed him deeply.

"OH MY!" Patty screeched.

"God Kirk. You are such an idiot. The one day you didn't bring your camera!" Kirk said from the table he was sitting at in the corner.

They continued there kiss for what seemed like forever. Lorelai wanted to show Jason that there was no chance he was getting her back.

When they finally pulled away, Lorelai stood facing Luke, smiling. He smiled back, and then glared at Jason. It worked. He shot Lorelai a look of sadness, and left the diner.

"You weren't acting, were ya?" Babette asked. Luke blushed and walked back into the kitchen.

"Actually...no." Lorelai answered, smiling. "I guess you guys were right."

"Oh were we! Sweetie, you two were bound to get together eventually! This is going to be the talk of the town! We're all so happy for you! Now, I think I've got to go...I have to go...shopping." Patty said.

"Or tell the whole town that we finally gave in, huh?" Lorelai asked.

"Honey, how could we resist?" Patty said excitedly.

The girls rushed out of the diner, both running in different directions. Lorelai laughed to herself. How could her and Luke be so oblivious for so long? 'Maybe it was just me' she thought to herself.

"Lorelai, I just wanted to wish you my deepest congratulations. I always knew that you and Luke had something going on."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, run along now."

"Not until you forgive me for not coming up earlier, while that Jason guy was here."

"Thank you Kirk. I forgive you. Now go beg Luke for some equals or something."

Luke walked out of the kitchen, rolling his eyes at Lorelai.

"What! It's not like you were being the big, strong, protective boyfriend. I had to do something." She said to him, flashing him her sexy-pout.

He always fell for that. "Yeah, sorry. You okay?"

"Yeah I'll be fine." She smiled, "I'll be great if you gave me some coffee."

"No"

"Come on Luke!"

"Your energy level is too high. Plus you have to go to the Inn, there waiting for you."

Luke turned over and poured her a cup of coffee to go.

"You give in easily." She said smiling at him. She glanced around the room, smirked, and leaned forward to give Luke a kiss goodbye. "See ya later..." She smiled, "baby." She said in a flirty little voice that she used only to annoy Luke.

"Don't ever call me baby again." He said, while she walked out of the diner.

The second that Lorelai walked out of the diner, people ran over to her and began asking her questions about her and Luke.

"Go away paparazzi. I know you love me, but shew! I have somewhere to be!" She said while walking towards her car.

'I knew that was a bad way to tell show everybody we were dating' She thought to herself.

When she got back to the Inn, Sookie ran up to her and smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" Lorelai asked suspiciously.

"Patty called."

"Like you didn't already know?"

"Well of course I did, but I didn't want to get in trouble with Patty. So I'm here to give you my best wishes and congratulations."

"She told you to say that?"

Sookie laughed. She went back into the kitchen with Lorelai and exchanged details of the encounter with Jason.

"For some reason, I was just feeling so, bi-polar."  
  
"Honey, you are not bi-polar." Sookie clarified.

"Ok, I mean, I felt so...not myself."

"You need to expand your vocabulary."

"You need to work on your souffles."

"What? What's the matter with them? I thought you liked them. Lorelai!"

"Sookie, I was kidding." She said while walking out of the kitchen.

By about 3, Lorelai left and went straight home. She found Rory packing some things into a huge suitcase.

"You excited?"

"Yeah. I ran into Patty today. She told me to have fun, and that if I didn't get you and Luke a 'correct' wedding present that she'd make me go back and get the right one."

"This is getting out of control." Lorelai said, sighing.

"What did you expect? Them to say finally, and that would be the end of it?"

"Well...no."

"It was inevitable from the beginning."

"So this is what happens when the inevitable finally does."

The girls continued chatting and packing for a little while. Lorelai went upstairs afterwards, took a quick shower and threw on fresh clothes and a new apply of makeup.

Lorelai walked into the kitchen frowning. She opened the fridge and immediately closed it.

"What's the frown for?" Rory asked.

"I'm hungry."

"When aren't you hungry?"

"Hey, quit the cute and let's go to Luke's. I want a burger."

"Yeah, what else is new."

The girls got in the car and drove over to Lukes. They weren't in a walking mood. When the walked in, Luke was being bombarded with questions from people all over the town. When they all saw Lorelai walked in, they quickly ran over to her, and did the same.

"That's it. Everyone out! We're closed." Luke shouted.

"Oh you better not be closed." Lorelai said, walking up to the counter.

"You and Rory can stay. Everybody else out."

"Luke, this is very poor service. I don't think that you can close right now. You'd have to inform us before hand when you plan on leaving." Taylor stated.

"And I'm telling you now. Everybody get out within the next minute. I'm closing."

The crowd quickly ran out of the diner and began spying on the girls and Luke from outside the window. Lorelai walked over, stuck her tounge out at everybody, smiled, and then closed the blinds. There were a few taps and pounds on the window, but they quickly went away.

"God, you'd think that Bloomingdales was having a sale." Lorelai said, walking back towards her seat.

"No mom, that's only for you. Like the time that you got up at 5 AM, and drove to the mall in your mo--"

"Rory!" Lorelai cut her off. "Don't even think of continuing that sentence or else some serious blackmailing is going to happen."

"What do you have against me?"

"I'm not even going to bring up your past time Backstreet Boys obsession."

"MOM!" Rory squealed.

Luke laughed at Rory. "So after all this time, you've always liked them, haven't you?" He asked her.

"Mom, stop right there."

"Why Rory? 'You want it thatt-A way?" She said in a singsong voice, imitating the Backstreet Boys.

"Mom, stop!"

"Come on Rory. Your obsession was 'larger than life.'"

"Ok, there's a time to stop, and a time to really stop. You've crossed both lines."

"Oh it's just Luke. I'm sure he's not even enjoying this." Lorelai said, glancing over at Luke who couldn't help but laugh.

"You're evil."

"AS LONG AS YOU LOVE ME!" Lorelai screamed at the top of her lounges, singing the old songs by them.

"How do you know so many songs?" Luke asked.

"Hey, when she listened to the CD 24/7, I learned the words. I have a good memory, ok?" Lorelai said defending herself.

"Okay, I'll stop now. Because, 'I'll never break your heart, I'll never make you cry.'" Lorelai started.

"That's it, I'm leaving. And mom, don't think you are off the hook that easily.

Lorelai started laughing as Rory walked out the door.

"I think Luke would enjoy the late night litter box story. But I'm sure he's had one too many laughs tonight, so I'll be leaving now. Goodbye." Rory said, leaving the diner to just Luke and Lorelai.

"The late night litter box story?" He asked curiously.

Lorelai blushed a little. "Long story. But I better go run after her, she probably hate's me. See ya tomorrow?" She asked hopefully.

"No, I'm not going to be around." He joked.

"What?!"

"I was kidding." He walked around the counter to meet Lorelai. He placed his hands on her face, and kissed her gently. He was always so gentle when it came to her.

"Goodnight." She said, walking out of the diner, going to chase after Rory.

When Lorelai finally caught up with Rory, she started to walk quicker.

"You can't give me the mommy dearest treatment forever, angel." She said, catching up to her, fluttering her eyelashes.

"You're so mean!"

"Oh Rory, it's just Luke! He doesn't care. At least I didn't tell Kirk. He would have tired to get you to join his fan club. You guys could exchange the secret handshake, oh!" She sad laughing to herself, "And–and, you could wear matching shirts that countdown the days till they come to Connecticut."

"You're not funny. I'm just warning you, you shouldn't have done that."

"So, still love me?"

"We'll see."

"Good."

They walked back to their house, and Lorelai groaned the second the phone rang.

"What?" She said, picking up the phone.

"Lorelai? Is that how you answer your phone?" It was her mother.

"Oh, hi Em!" She said cheerfully.

"What did you just call me?"

"I said Em...short for..."

"I know what Em is short for. But I have another label, I believe they call it mom."

"Label? I didn't know you we're on the market."

"Lorelai, now is not a time for your jokes. I wanted to clarify our dinner plans for tomorrow."

Lorelai was surprised that her mother was bringing them up. After there confrontation at the Dragonfly she thought they were off the hook. But she knew Emily too well, she was never off the hook.

"Ah, good thing you called. Because after 4 years of going to these things, I forgot." Lorelai joked.

"I'll see you at 7."

"Really? 7? Because I thought it was 8?"

"Goodnight Lorelai."

"Goodnight mother."

She walked over to Rorys room who was continuing her packing.

"Dinner. Tomorrow. 7. Peace out Humphrey."

"Night mom."

Up Next: Recovering Quickly

A/N: Sorry, this chapter sorta...sucked? But, that's okay because I have next chapter to make up for it. It'll be up withen a few days, but I'm just gunna close with this little tidbit: Something _good_ happens. Please review! Thanks!


	10. Recovering Quickly

Authors Note: Okay guys...this chapter has been a long time coming. If you know what I mean. And...sorry about the lack of updating, I've been trying to write as much as I can without having writers block. But I hope you guys enjoy this chapter more than the last...please review! I want to make sure I've still got readers out there, and that this isn't pointless! Just double checking...it means a lot to me! So thank's in advance. Special thanks to all the past time reviewers...without said, you all know who you are.

Just a Reminder: I'm just messin around with them for now.

Chapter Ten: Recovering Quickly

"I really don't want to see my parents."

"You never do. But be nice...at least this time okay?"

When the maid opened the door, Lorelai and Rory walked in and sat down in the living room without any sights of Emily or Richard.

"Hello girls." Emily said, walking into the living room.

"Hello...Emily." Rory coughed, "Mom" Lorelai corrected herself.

"Hi Grandma!" Rory said trying to ease the moment.

"Where's dad?" Lorelai asked.

"He's in his office. He'll be out any minute. So how are you two girls?"

"Well, I lost in strip poker last night, so I'm still recovering from that...but otherwise, I'm fine."

"Lorelai, I hope you know that is not funny. And you are not setting a very good example for your daughter."

"Oh, well Rory was the one who beat me, so I think she's okay mom."

"Lorelai. Rory." Richard greeted them while walking into the room.

There was tension in the room. Through out all 4 of them. Nobody wanted to mention there encounter at the Inn, so the subject remained forgotten. As they settled in the dining room for dinner, there wasn't much talking going on.

"So Rory, what are your plans for the summer? Have you thought about that trip to Europe?" Emily asked, hopefully.

Rory shot a very uncomfortable look at Lorelai, who didn't know what to do. She gave her a unhelpful look, and Rory cleared her throat, staring nervously towards Emily.

"Actually Grandma, I have...and I don't think that right now would be the best time to do it because I already had plans with my friend Lane to go on a little road trip, but I'm not sure how things are looking after that. So, we can still see." Rory slightly lied.

"Liar," Lorelai whispered, and only Rory heard her, shooting her a look across the table. She glanced at her Grandma who looked sad.

"Oh, well then. When are you leaving." She asked sternly.

"Tomorrow...actually."

"So soon. Where are you headed?" Richard asked.

"Chicago."

"A very nice city. How long will you be there?" He asked.

"Probably about 3 weeks. We want to have enough time to travel and see things."

The rest of the night was...quiet. The talking was to a minimum which was good because they didn't want there to be any fights. It wasn't until around 9 that they left and headed straight home to finish packing. Lorelai had only talked to Luke earlier in the morning, so she grabbed the phone and went up to her room to talk to him.

"Lukes"

"Why don't you say that with more...enthusiasm. More like, Good evening, Lukes! How many I help you!"

"Good evening, Lukes! How may I help you?" He said mocking her.

"Hey...no mocking allowed." There was an awkward silence for a second. "I...missed you today." Lorelai said quietly.

"Yeah, I think this was the first time I haven't seen you in a day...ever. How was your day?"

"Uneventful and boring. And then, I had to go to my parents for dinner, which was more boring than watching Summer Catch with Freddie Prince Jr., but actually more exciting than listening to Michel talk to one of his relatives. How was your day?"

"Not bad. Pretty busy. Kirk and Patty came in today to take pictures of me. To see if there's any physical difference with me since we've been dating."

"Our town is just plain crazy. Anyways, I have a favor to ask of you. Rory and Lane are leaving tomorrow at around 8. I was wondering if you could bring over some coffee, and you know...say goodbye to her. Or just keep me emotionally balanced, but either way you want to put it is fine."

"Yeah sure, I'll see you then, ok?"

"Yeah, bye."

"Goodnight."

Lorelai helped Rory finish packing for the rest of the night and then went straight to bed.

"Mom! Get up! It's 7:45, and Luke's going to be here in 15 minutes, and then I'm leaving. Don't you want to see me before I go?"

"No, just leave a picture on my night stand, bye babe."

"Get up!" Rory yelled while pulling the covers off of her. Suddenly the doorbell rang so Rory ran down to get it. It was Lane with all of her luggage, ready to take off.

By 8:00 exactly, Lorelai made it downstairs. "Do you guys really have to go?" She whined.

"Yes mom. But it's not that long."

"3 Weeks? I don't know what you're talking about, but 3 weeks is...well its...its..." she began trying to describe it, when the bell rang, "oh look at that Luke's here." She said walking up to the front door. She opened it and saw Luke standing with 3 cups of coffee and 3 muffins.

"You're pretty!" She said grabbing a cup of coffee and a muffin from the bag causing him to almost spill the coffee and knock down the muffins.

"Wow, calm down. They'll still be there in a minute." He said, walking them to the kitchen.

It wasn't until about 8:30 that the 4 of them were standing in the driveway, getting ready to say goodbye.

"Stay good." She said, hugging Rory, "don't drink or smoke to much, and try not to get frisky with the bell boys."

"Goodbye mom" Rory said pulling away.

"Oh, and don't eat anything that smells weird. Or looks weird, and don't buy clothes for me unless you're 100% sure that it's going to fit because I don't want to have to make you go back and get me a the right size."

They all said goodbye to eachother, and Rory and Lane jumped in the car.

"Oh and Rory!" Lorelai called, before she closed the door.

"What??" She asked getting annoyed.

"Don't stay at any hotels called Holiday Inn!"

She rolled her eyes and shut her door, waving while she drove out of the driveway. Lorelai walked over to the porch steps and sat there frowning.

"I'm depressed." She said quietly.

"She just left, Lorelai."

"I know, but I miss her already. This is how it's going to be for the next 3 weeks. Learn to live with it, unless you are planning on leaving me."

"Well, actually...I was."

"What!" She screamed

"I'm kidding, calm down. You know I'd never to that. Not after how long it took for me to get you. Nuh-uh. I'm not going anywhere." Luke said, reassuring her.

"Hey, you could have had me earlier. You just never made a move."

"Okay, whatever you say." He said, rolling her eyes knowing that he had made moves in the past, but she just never caught on.

"Hey, what do you say we go out tonight? Let's go to that restaurant out in Hartford that you like."

"Oh! The one by the park that we went to after the dinner party last week?"

"Yeah"

"Ok! But can we go there afterwards? I like that place!" She said smiling.

"Sure. I'll pick you up at about 6, ok?"

"Ok, are you leaving me now?"

"I've got to get back to the diner. Want to come?"

"No, I'll just stay here and cry or something."

He laughed a little and leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. "I'll see you later. Stop by if you're in the mood."

"Oh, I don't know how cheery I'll be..."

"Yeah, well, I'll talk to you later. Bye."

'Nuh-uh. I'm not going anywhere' replayed in her mind. 'Good,' she thought, 'because I don't want him to go anywhere.'

The rest of the day went by slowly. Lorelai didn't do much but take a few naps, watched a couple movies, and by around 5:00, went to write Rory an email.

_So, you left approximately...well, I'm too lazy to count how many hours ago you left, but the bottom line is you still haven't called. What if you are lost, or you got in a car accident? Great, now I'm going to have these horrible thoughts for the rest of the day. I miss you already, kid. What am I possibly going to do for three weeks? I'm going out with Luke tonight. Dinner and a 'walk through the park', how cliche does that sound? Well, we're not into different. Actually I am, but Luke's not. Luke's weird. He smells funny. Actually he doesn't, that's a lie. He smells good and I've gone into a complete trance of writing weird things to you. I've got to sign off this thing. Call me? Love, the woman you once called mom._

When she finished her email to Rory, she went upstairs and began to get ready for her date. She wore a matching black pant and coat suit that she wore for important business meetings for the Inn. But she didn't want to get all dressed up when in reality it wasn't that fancy of a restaurant. She put on a strand of little pearls that her mom gave her, which was probably the only thing that she liked from her mom. She left her straightened hair down, and wore a pair of high heels. She glanced at her watch that read 5:55.

"Oh my" She said out loud. "I'm actually ready _on time."_

Luke didn't get there till about 6:05, purposely trying to be late.

"You didn't have to come 5 minutes late. I was ready 10 minutes ago."

"That's hard to believe." He looked at Lorelai, and thought that she looked...sexy in her suit.

"Look at you in your business woman outfit." He joked.

"What? You don't like it?" She said pouting.

"No, I do, I do." He said, giving her a hug. "Ready?"

They got in the car and drove to a restaurant in Hartford. The dinner was good. They talked about the gossip of the town, which was obviously them, a little talk about Jason and Christopher which was a little uncomfortable at times, but mostly, it was about Rory and how much Lorelai was going to miss her for the next three weeks. When dinner was done, they went straight to the familiar Elpine Park. It was already almost 8:15, so of course, it was dark, and yet again, Lorelai couldn't see much.

"Here we are." Luke said while holding Lorelai's hand and walked her into the entrance of the park.

"This place is so pretty at night."

They started walking for a little while until Lorelai started to complain about how her feet hurt.

"Let's just walk a little further; I don't see a bench around here."

"That's okay," Lorelai said while taking off her shoes. She grabbed Luke's hand and started to run into a empty patch of grass with nothing around them.

"Lorelai what are you doing?" He said, trailing after her.

She smiled back at him and continued running until they were at the grass.

"Sit" She said.

Luke wasn't sure how he should sit, so he sat down on the grass with his hands holding him up. His legs were spread out and Lorelai sat inbetween them, leaning against him. He removed his arms from the grass, and placed them around Lorelai's stomach pushing a little weight against her, so that he wouldn't fall over either. Her head was lying just above his chest, slightly against his shoulder. They sat in silence for a long time.

"What did you mean earlier?" She whispered.

"When?"

"What did you mean when you said sure, whatever you say after I said you could have had me earlier but you never made a move?"

"Oh, uh, I don't know."

"Yes you do. What did you mean?"

Luke sighed quietly and thought for a moment. "Well, I guess there were times before that I 'kinda' asked out you, and you didn't really respond. Or times where I 'almost' kissed you, but didn't. You just didn't seem...I dunno, interested."

"When?"

"When what?"

"When did you 'ask me out', or 'try to kiss me'" She said, mocking him.

"Well, there was that time when we were playing cards at the diner when Sookie and Jackson were out on their first date. And you were talking about how you were jealous of what they had, and I said that maybe sometime we should, ya know...go out, and you just stared at me, and then Mrs. Kim came running in and you went with her to find Rory and Lane."

Lorelai smiled to herself, fully remembering the night. "I was going to say yes. And I bet you don't remember that the next day, I went into the diner and you said that I ran out before you had the chance to ask me something. And I knew what you were talking about, and I was ready to say yes when you asked me again, but you said you didn't have time to kick my ass in poker. And I wasn't expecting to hear that, so I quickly acted stupid and just said oh yeah. But I knew what you were doing."

They both sat in the silence for a little while. "And the kiss?" Lorelai asked quietly.

"The day you came over to pick out paint samples. We were sitting behind the counter and I was going to kiss you but then Taylor and everybody else came outside the diner to take pictures. And then, you leaned over to look at them, and I leaned against you, and when they left, I said thanks, and you turned around and I was going to kiss you again, but you said you had to go."

Lorelai suddenly felt bad. She remembered that night also, and especially that moment. She felt sort of guilty for leaving, but she didn't want to tell Luke that now.

"I guess sometimes you don't get to say or do things that you want to, and you obviously just learn to regret it."

Luke thought for a moment. Lorelai rested her head on his shoulder, still sitting in the same position. Luke leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"Lorelai?" He whispered.

"Hmm?" She mumbled.

"I love you." He said, and immediately bit his tongue afterwards, terrified at what he just said.

Lorelai quietly gasped, and slowly sat up, still inbetween his legs, but turned her head and faced him. She looked, shocked. Her eyes, tearing up slightly, but Luke couldn't tell. She looked at him with amazement, and respect. She knew how nervous he must have been. She appreciated him saying it.

"I love you too." She said quietly, smiling at him.

He was relieved. And happy. Sure they have only been dating, or even just getting more serious for the past week, week and a half, but he felt it was so right. After she had just talked about regretting not saying things. He knew it was the perfect moment. And it's not like they knew each other for 2 weeks, they've known each other for over 8 years.

They just stared at each other for a little while. Finally, Luke leaned in and kissed her passionately. She turned her body so that she was sitting on her knees in between his legs. She slowly pushed him down so that he was lying completely on the grass. She lied on top of him, not breaking away from the kiss. This kiss was special. More special than their first kiss, and more special than the kiss after their fight over Chris. They both felt so calm, collected, and in the moment. Finally, she pulled away, and lied next to him, resting her head tucked on his chest. He had his arm around her, and kissed her head. They lied there for over 30 minutes, just enjoying the moment, and each others company. Lorelai never wanted to be with somebody so much more than this. This was nothing compared to Max or Jason. Or even, sadly but truly, Christopher. Although he was her first love, this was so much more special. Luke felt like he was the luckiest guy in the world. This is what he's always wanted. He's never wanted something so much, more than Lorelai. His wish finally came true.

It wasn't until about 9 that they had moved from the position they had been lying in. Lorelai adjusted her head so that she was gazing up at him. He returned the gaze with a smile. She stood up, looked towards the sky, and started spinning in circles. Suddenly she felt like she was 5 again. Although Emily and Richard would never let her feel so free, even at age 5, she still felt the feeling of being a little kid.

"Uh, Lorelai?" Luke said sitting up and staring at her curiously.

"Hmm?" She said giggling.

"Want to explain what you are doing?"

Lorelai continued spinning, not saying a word. After a few moments, she decided to talk. "I used to have a friend name Sally. I used to hang out with her all the time when I was a little kid. She was the only friend's house that I could go to because my parent's and her parent's were old friends. They were the only parent's they trusted me with. I was once talking to Sally and her mom, who I like to think I resemble because, well besides the fact that she was a cool mom, she let us eat junk food when we weren't supposed to. She used to always tell us that whenever her boyfriend at the time told her he loved her, she'd go home and spin in circles, laughing hysterically. She said before it got to late, she wanted to spin in front of him, and show him how much him saying I love you meant to her. She used to say, 'girls, whenever you are with that special somebody, and they say I love you, spin in front of them so that they know how much they mean to you'. So, here I am showing you how much you mean to me." She broke out in laugher, and Luke just sat there, staring at her. Finally, she fell down, collapsing next to him.

"Want to spin with me?" She said continuing laughing.

"I think I'll have to pass. And as...special as that story may be, I think it's a 'girl thing.'"

"Oh come on Luke, spin with me. Please, please, please?" She begged.

"Just this once."

They stood up and she held his hands as they spun in a circle like they were little kids, together. After only a few seconds, Luke stopped the spinning.

"As fun as this may be, I think I'm going to be sick."

"So that means you don't want to spin anymore?" She said pouting at him.

"You know how much you mean to me. I don't think spinning endlessly in circles shows you more or less how special you are."

Lorelai had been in a funk A good funk, though. She never felt this free, and loved in her life. Something about the moment meant so much to her. Why else would she be spinning around in circles? But there's always an end for everything, so they got into the car and Luke drove back to Lorelai's house. He walked her up to the porch, and hugged her tightly. Lorelai was still hyper, and in the moment.

"Stay with me tonight." She suggested, smiling largely at him.

"What...uh, what do you mean?" He asked hesitantly.

"I don't know. Just, stay over for the night. I don't want to be alone."

"Well, alright. You sure?"

"I'm sure."

They went straight upstairs and Lorelai changed into her PJ's. She wore a little tank top, and a pair of short cotton shorts. She went into the bathroom, got ready, and walked back out to see Luke sitting uncomfortably on the bed, in his boxer shorts and teeshirt. He was completely covered, no reason to be uncomfortable. Lorelai and Sookie's conversation flashed threw her mind one last time. She knew that they weren't going to, 'sleep with each other.' That's not why she made the offer. And she knew that he felt the same way. She just wanted to be with somebody. She didn't want to be alone in a big house. She felt it was...right.

They got under the covers, and Lorelai scooted in towards Luke. The lights were out, and it was pretty dark in the room except the glare from the moon that Lorelai saw coming through her window. She rested her head on his chest, and he wrapped his arm securely around her, and kissed the top of her forehead. She quickly turned around so that she was on her stomach and lifted herself up a little. She pushed her weight down on the bed, one hand on each side of him, slightly raised in the air. She kissed him quickly, and laid back down in the previous position.

They were quiet for a second. Lorelai was falling into a trance, and finally becoming sleepy, but she just wanted to make sure that Luke knew she was completely serious with her intentions.

"I...love...you." She said sleepy, inbetween long pauses.

"I love you, too." He whispered.

Up Next: The Word That Changes Everything


	11. The Word That Changes Everything

Authors Note: Hope you guys are still hangin in with me! Thanks for the reviews! Here's more for you to read! Please review! Pretty please! lol, thank you to everybody that has in the past at least! It means a lot to me!

Just A Reminder: They'll never be mine.

Chapter Eleven: The Word That Changes Everything

It was about 9:30 when Lorelai rolled over and put her arm on...a big lump. 'What the heck is in my bed?' She thought to herself. She opened up her eyes slowly, and turned her head to see Luke still sleeping next to her. 'Ah, yes...she thought.' She sat up, trying not to wake Luke up to see what time it was. '9:30! He needs to get to the diner!'

"Luke..." She whispered in his ear.

"Lorelai?" He opened his eyes, confused. Where was he? 'Ah, yes...he thought.'

She looked around the room, looked outside the window, and then at Luke. Everything seemed much clearer, and prettier in and outside. The sun was gazing through the window, and you could hear the birds chirping outside. And although Lorelai found that annoying, today was different.

"Good morning," She said smiling, and brushing her hand through his hair.

"Morning," He said while sitting up. 'She even looks good when she wakes up'

"It's...9:30," She said hesitantly.

"9:30? I've gotta get to the diner! People are going to wonder why we aren't open!" He said, frantically getting out of bed, and throwing on his clothes.

"Ah, so this is how it's going to be." Lorelai said, nodding her head, "You get drunk last night, sleep with me, and then ditch me? I see how it is." She said grinning.

"What? I didn't get drunk, and...what are you talking about?"

"Don't worry. I was kidding around. Go, go, go. I'll meet you there soon." She got up and gave him a quick kiss goodbye. When she heard the door slam, she peeked out the window and watched him drive out.

"_That _didn't happen, but I know something that _did!"_ She said in a singsong voice.

Right then, the telephone was ringing. And of course, she couldn't find it, so right before it stopped ringing, she grabbed it and answered.

"This better be good!" She said out of breath from running around.

"Hi Mom!"

"Rory, hey! How are you? Where are you? What's up? Are you okay?"

"Wow, calm down! I'm great! Me and Lane are about to leave the hotel and go walk downtown. I just want to let you know that we got here fine."

"How was the ride?"

"It was good. Long, but good. We're staying at the Hilton in Chicago. I can't believe I'm giving money to the woman who carries her dog in her purse."

"Ah, you always were the nice one. How's Lane?"

"She's good. She's really anxious to get out though. She wants to see everything."

"Good, good. Well, I hate to take away your time, but I've got something to tell you."

"What? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is...perfect. Last night...I went streaking!"

"Not funny...what really happend."

"Oh, Uhm...well I went out to dinner with Luke, and then he said he loves me, and then I started spinning, and I actually got him to spin with me but it was only for a few seconds, but still the point is he spun with me!" Lorelai said quickly.

"Wait, wait. He said he loves you?" Rory squealed.

"Mmm hmm!" Lorelai said, smiling to herself.

"And what happend?"

"I said I hate you."

"Mom..."

Slowly, and smiling to herself, "I said I love him too, kid."

Rory knew that was a word her mother never threw around. She only used it with sentences that included the words burger, coffee, or Rory. It was a big deal for her. A really big deal.

"Mom...that's great. I'm so happy for you guys!"

"Thanks. But I don't want you to waste all your time talking to me. I wrote you an email, did you ever get it?"

"Yeah, I wrote back. So write me, and I'll call you later, bye mom!"

"I will! Bye babe, tell Lane I say hi."

Lorelai walked up to her room and got out her laptop, immediately wanting to write Rory the details of her night.

* * *

"So honey, I saw your truck outside of Lorelai's house this mornin. What were you doin over so early?" Babette asked Luke.

"Nothing Babette. Nothing that's your business. So don't go writing anything up for the web page about how you saw my car parked outside of her house all night."

"But darlin,..." She began.

"Nope."

* * *

_Dear Lorelai,  
I mean mom. Sorry. How are you? I'm glad to know you thought I got in a car accident. But no, I'm fine. We just got at our hotel, and I'm so tired. But I knew that you would be mad if I didn't write something, so here I am, writing to you. I miss you already! I've got to get to bed though because I'm so tired, and we're getting up early to go walk around downtown. So I'll call you in the morning. I love you, mom.  
Rory_

Unsure of where to begin, or what to include, Lorelai started her email back to Rory.

_Where oh where to begin. I could start right after I said I love you too, or I could start from this morning, but I guess you want to hear the details. Do you, do you, do you? I miss you. I'm going through some phase. I wish you weren't going to be gone so long! I'll live. Well, we went out to dinner last night. And we drove over to Elpine Park. Pretty park. You know what I'm talking about. We had been talking about saying things at the right time, or else you may regret it, and before I knew it, he was whispering I love you in my ear. I was so...stunned, Rory. I didn't know what to do. I felt somewhat numb, like I had just been in an accident. I've thought about saying it to him, but I thought maybe it was too soon? What do you think? So I turned around, and being me, I got all emotional, and stared to 'tear' up and I said I love you too. Go figure. You think it was right, right? I hope so. We sat at the park for a very long time, just looking up at the stars, until I started to spin. You know the Sally story. He spun with me a little. That was good...then he came back here, and I was very, 'in the moment' and I invited him to stay over. I know you don't want **those** details...just kidding. Nothing happend. And I'm not here to creep you out. I just wanted to share my story! I hope you're having a good time. I'm going to head over to Luke's. Enjoy the city, babe.  
Love, Mom._

Lorelai took a quick shower, and got ready to go over to Lukes. She wore a little summer dress that she only wore once, and it was last summer. Surprisingly enough, she still had. It was light blue and had small white polka dots on it. She slipped it on, threw on some make up, a pair of flip flops and _walked_ to Luke's. Bad idea.

"Oh Lorelai, Lorelai sweetie!" Patty called from behind Lorelai.

'Oh no' she thought to herself. She turned around, and put on a big smile. "Hi Patty! How are you?"

"I'm just great, how are you?"

"I'm good, thanks."

"I bet! I heard that Luke was at your house all night last night."

'What? How could she possibly find out so quickly.' She thought. "Patty, I've got to go. I'll see you later!" She said running from Patty. She did it often. Patty knew her way around things though.

Lorelai walked quickly the rest of her way, and plopped down at a seat at the counter. When Luke came out of the kitchen, she gave him a quick kiss, since he wasn't the whole PDA kind of guy.

"Coffee! Muffin! Now!" She ordered.

"Tea and toast." He said going to the kitchen.

"Not funny!" She walked behind the counter and got her own cup of coffee which was a privilege. She always poured too much coffee, and got the biggest muffin. She sat down and ate by herself. She enjoyed it though because she didn't want to be bothered with more questions by any of the nosey townspeople. But just then, Taylor walked in.

"Lorelai! I'm glad to see you. I don't know if you heard, but our town meeting has been pushed up to today. So I'll see you there at 6."

"We'll see about that." She mumbled.

"What was that? You do know you have to attend. Patty told me you were on the party committee."

"Oh crap," She said softly. "Yeah, see ya later Taylor."

"What was that about?" Luke asked while walking out of the kitchen.

"Me, you, town meeting, tonight. Come to house before, we'll walk there together."

Luke grunted, he hated the meetings. "Fine."

Lorelai didn't stay to long. She had some errands to run, and it was already almost 11. She went to the grocery store, the dry cleaners, the mall to do a little reward shopping, and to the Inn just to check up on things with Sookie.

"Take a lunch break, come with me, I've got to talk to you." Lorelai said, grabbing Sookie's arm and dragging her out of the kitchen. They headed back to Lorelai's and just ate some food that she had just bought.

"What is it?" Sookie said when the finally settled down.

"He told me he loves me."

Sookie's eyes widened and mouth dropped. She always got so excited when it came to Luke and Lorelai. She was just so happy for them.

"And I said I love him too."

Not sure of what else to say, she just waited for Sookie to respond.

"That's great! Really, I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, it just seems so great. Everything's moving along perfect. I couldn't be any happier."

They exchanged all the details, and then it was time for Sookie to get back to the Inn.

At about 5:50, Luke got to Lorelai's house. The door was open so he just walked in.

"Lorelai?" He called, but didn't get a response.

"Lorelai, are you here?" He was about to walk up the stairs but heard the bathroom door open from above. Lorelai quickly ran downstairs in only her bra and a small pair of shorts. She seemed like she was in a rush, she ran down, gave Luke a quick kiss, pushed him out of the way and ran to the laundry room.

"Uh, what are you doing? Why aren't you wearing your clothes?" He said walking towards the laundry room.

"My clothes are in the dryer! I have to hurry though, we're going to be late and then we won't get a seat, and I hate standing up. You know that."

Before he knew it, she was standing in her bra and underwear. He turned away uncomfortably, while she threw on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt.

"I'm not 3. I'm a big girl, Lukey." She said embarrassing him.

"I know, I just didn't know if you wanted me too--"

"Let's go!" She said cutting him off and running out of the door. They were walking quickly, running a little bit until Lorelai hurt her foot and started to yell like a baby.

"It hurts!" She said while trying to walk, "Pick me up! Please!"

Luke rolled his eyes, and picked up Lorelai with her legs dangling over the side of his arm, and her arms wrapped around his neck. "I can't believe I'm doing this," He said while walking towards the town hall.

"That's cause you love me!" She matter-of-factly.

"I guess so."

Luke walked in, still holding Lorelai, which was obviously a mistake.

"Oh look at how cute you too are!" Patty screamed across the room from the top of the podium.

They both just ignored her, and Luke put Lorelai down in a seat in the back, and he sat right next to her.

"You're late." Taylor called out.

"Who care's Taylor, just go on with whatever stupid thing you were doing." Luke mumbled.

Lorelai looked over at him and laughed a little. She loved watching him get mad at the town meetings.

"We are having a dance to collect money for the bridge, yet again."

"The stupid bridge might as well be gone already!" Luke yelled.

"Now Luke, that's no way to talk about the bridge. But like I was saying, we're having a dance on Thursday starting at 5. So grab your dancing partner, and be ready to dance from 5-10."

"How is having a dance going to save the bridge?" Luke asked. He hated dances. There was no way that he was going to participate in this one.

"You have to pay a fee or 5 dollars to get in, for you and your partner, and then every time you want to request a song, you have to pay 1 dollar. We're just trying to get a little extra cash." Taylor replied.

"I love dances!" Lorelai said to Luke. She was smiling suspiciously at him.

"Well, I hate them."

"Too bad, because you have to be my partner for this one. You are my...boyfriend." She said in a high pitched voice, fluttering her eyelashes.

"There's no way that you can get me to go to this."

"Come on Luke, please, please. Just come with me, you don't have to dance...a lot. And we don't have to go the whole time." She said, pouting at him.

How could he resist? "Fine."

After the meeting ended, they headed back to Luke's. Lorelai stuck around till closing, and helped him clean up a little bit. They headed back up to Luke's apartment and watched TV on the couch, both drinking a couple of beers.

"Ah, my head hurts!" Lorelai said while putting down her second beer.

"Maybe you shouldn't have had another one." He said pointing to the bottle.

She laid down so that her legs were on Luke's lap, and she closed her eyes and pressed her head against the couch. Before he knew it, she was sleeping. He glanced over at the bed. He smiled to himself when he remembered how not to long ago, he had gotten a bigger bed, ever since he got married to Nicole. 'Finally' he thought. He picked her up, and brought her over to the bed. She was still wearing her clothes, but he didn't even want to bother. She looked so comfortable. He went to the bathroom, got ready for bed, and joined her. 'So is this how it's going to be for the next 3 weeks?' He thought to himself, and then began to try and fall asleep.

At around 3 in the morning, Luke found himself tossing and turning, not being able to fall asleep. He went on the couch, and turned the TV quietly towards him. He was scared of waking up Lorelai, but looked like she was in a pretty deep sleep. It was at around 3:15, when Lorelai woke up, and sat up looking around. 'Ah, I must of fell asleep here' she thought.

He looked over at her and saw that she was beginning to sit up. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up, but I couldn't fall asleep." He said, turning off the TV but staying on the couch. It was pretty dark in the apartment but Lorelai could still make her way around. She stumbled out of the bed and walked over to Luke. Her eyes, half shut still, sat on her knees, turning and facing him. She looked so tired. Her head was pounding, and her ankle still hurt a little. She leaned her head against his arm. He could tell she was so tired, and had to get up in the morning for work, which she hated. He put his arms around her and laid her down, while he was tightly laying next to her. He grabbed a blanket from the top of the couch and covered both of them. Lorelai snuggled next to him, afraid of falling off, and quickly fell back asleep, where Luke kissed her on her head, and stayed up a little longer until comfortably falling asleep.

Up Next: Dancing, Jealousy, and Love

Please Review!


	12. Dancing, Love, and Jealousy

Authors Note: Thanks for all the awesome reviews you guys have been giving me! It means a lot! Here's another chapter for you...and....I just always want to remind you guys, I'm a complete Luke and Lorelai freak. JavaJunkie's all the way. Don't forget that ;-) Enjoy the chapter, and please, please review! I'm going to try and update more often because I have more chapters already written, but I just need the feedback to see if it's worth it! Thanks guys!

Just a Reminder: ASP's...a few things are mine though. Those weird, make believe things. Ya know...

Chapter Twelve: Dancing, Jealousy, and Love

It was around 4:00 when Lorelai got off work on Thursday. She hit the mall right afterwards to get an outfit for the dance that night. She decided on a dark red halter dress, simple but cute because it matched her new shoes. 'A 37 year old going to a dance' She thought. 'It's still very fun.'

She went home and straightened her curly hair. She parted it, and put it half up. She got dressed, did her makeup, and was ready for Luke to arrive towards 6. They weren't going right away though. It was Thursday, but her mother was having a small cocktail party that Lorelai and Luke both had to attend, but only planning on attending for an hour, hopefully.

"You're late" Lorelai said answering the door before Luke could ring the bell. "Let's go"

"You look gorgeous if that makes up for anything." He said leaning in and giving her a kiss.

"Thanks...you look great too."

They drove to her parents house and arrived at around 6:30. Before they got out of the car, Lorelai just stood there, thinking, 'why is my mother having a cocktail party? What are the circumstances of this thing?' They got out of the car and headed to the door.

"I have a feeling I'm going to need you to drive home because I'm going to be a little too drun--"

"You're late." Emily said, pulling open the door before they rang the bell.

"How did she do that? She's just like you." Luke said while walking right behind Lorelai who was following her mother to the dining room.

"Like mother, like daughter. Wow, I did not just say that because believe me I am nothing like my mother."

"You have an escort. It's the iceman."

"Mom! His name is LUKE. You know that." Lorelai thought for a moment. She hadn't told her mom that her dream of them finally becoming a couple has come true.

"Hi, nice to see you again." Luke said, breaking the ice.

"You too. I'm glad to see you could join Lorelai." She said smiling towards Lorelai. The smile that screams, 'I'm right, I always was right, and I'll always be right.' "Lorelai, may I see you in the kitchen please?" She asked.

"Why not mom..." She said, she glanced at Luke and mouthed that she'd be right back. She followed her mother to the kitchen and stood there, expectantly.

"You brought the ice–Luke." Emily quickly corrected herself.

"Yes mom, I brought Luke."

"Have you two finally come to your senses and realized that you're meant to be together?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes, and bit her lip for a quick second. She didn't want to tell her mom that she was right, but sooner or later, she'd find out. "Yes mom, we're dating."

"I KNEW IT!" She yelled. "How long has it been?" Her mom was smiling. Smiling largely. It had been a while since she's seen her mother smile, and it made her feel good. Maybe things would be okay...

"A few weeks. But if I don't get back in there soon, there might not be an 'us' anymore. So please, excuse me..." Lorelai said while walking out of the kitchen.

"Lorelai, wait." Emily called after her. Lorelai turned and stared at her. "You're father and I have decided to see a marriage counselor. We've both agreed to try and work things out. I'll give you details later though, now you go run along to...Luke."

Lorelai smiled, she was relieved that things might actually be okay. "I'm so happy for you mom. That's great. Really, it is." She said leaning in and giving her a hug. "I hope everything works out fine."

"Good, thank you. I'll see you later."

Lorelai hurried around trying to find Luke. She ran into a few people, including her dad, who she talked with for a little while, and a couple family friends. Finally she found Luke sitting on a chair, with two drinks in his hand.

"Here this is for you." He said, handing her the glass.

"Cheers" She raised her bottle to his, and took a long sip.

"Sorry that took so long."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, my parent's have decided to see a marriage counselor. Whether or not that will help, I just don't know, but I'm hoping so." She took another big sip of her drink, finishing it off. She motioned towards the liquor stand and they walked over there.

"This calls for Gin." She said, reaching out to get a glass.

"And...?" Luke asked.

"Gin. Me and my dad both...it's a thing in the family, straight gin is just fine with us."

2 glasses of gin, and 1 glass of white wine later, Lorelai was tipsy, you could say. Luke wasn't bad. He thought it was sort of funny seeing Lorelai like this. He had never seen her anywhere near being drunk, and although she wasn't, she still wasn't her normal self. She was laughing, a lot, and her talking level exceeded even more...if that's possible.

It was almost 7, when Lorelai and Luke decided it was time to leave. Luke knew there was no way that he was going to get out of the dance, even if he tried.

"So mi lad, are you...ready?" She said in a singsong voice.

"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be."

After saying all their goodbyes, the two departed the party. Luke hopped in the car after assisting Lorelai, drove back towards Stars Hollow.

"So you okay?" He asked her.

"Oh sweetie, this aint nothin. You've never seen me drunk before. Which you won't, because as you can tell I'm not the biggest drinker. Just on special occasions."

"Was this at least close to being a special occasion?"

"Yeah, I'd say so. I've been under a lot of stress lately. Rory leaving, the Inn and it's hecticness, and my parent's aren't making it any better. I just...I thought that if there marriage couldn't last, then who's could? My parent's always seemed so perfect for eachother. I was so shocked when I found out that they were separated and to find out that there going to try and work things out really lifted some weight of my shoulders. I'm just really relieved."

Luke sighed. Unsure of what to say he nodded his head. "I understand. I hope things will get better."

She turned to him, and smiled. "I do too."

They got to the dance by 7:45. Traffic was pretty bad, but it's not like they missed the whole thing. And Lorelai's chances of getting Luke to stay till 10 we're slim to none. When they pulled up into a parking spot, Lorelai closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with her index finger and thumb. She had another headache, and wanted to go inside, but didn't want to get bombarded with questions from everybody. Luke glanced over at her and saw that she didn't look to good.

"You sure you want to go? I mean I'll be perfectly fine if we don't. No hard feelings whatsoever."

"Nice try, but no. You're still coming in there with me. Let's go."

They walked into the dance which was in the gym of Stars Hollow High, which reminded her a lot of the dance marathon. Although she never actually won those, it still brought back some memories. The gym was packed, with both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Kirk was behind the stereo systems, and Taylor was not to far away from him.

"I can't believe that you got me to come to this."

"It's not going to be as bad as you think. I'll dance with you when there are slow songs, otherwise, I'll just dance with Sookie. Or maybe Kirk. Maybe I'll give myself into him this time, who know's!"

When they spotted Sookie and Jackson who were already out on the dance floor, Lorelai immediately ran over to them and began to dance, where as Luke stood on the sideline watching.

A couple dances later, a slow song came on. Lorelai ran up to Luke and got him to dance with her.

"This isn't so bad, no is it?" She whispered.

"I'll live."

"It reminds me of the night of your sisters wedding. When I first found out you could dance like this!"

"I knew it was a mistake to ask you."

"No...it wasn't."

They danced silently for the rest of the song. When it ended, they sat down on the bleachers. It was almost 8:15, and Luke was already sick of being there. Lorelai sat down and put her head in her hands. Her head was killing her. She took an aspirin earlier, but it didn't seem to help.

"Hey guys" an unfamiliar voice said.

They both looked up, and to there surprise, it was Jen. 'Wasn't she supposed to be on business?' Lorelai thought to herself. Luke looked stunned to see her. Lorelai felt a twitch of jealousy run through her when she looked Jen over. She looked really pretty...and well that made her envious.

"Jen is that you?" Babette asked.

"Babette! Hi, I see you haven't changed! You look great!" She said eyeing her up and down.

'She's even polite to the crazy people' Lorelai thought. 'What is she, superwoman?'

The four of them talked a little while, with the interruptions of a few people saying hi to Jen. They talked about her business trip, and how she was headed back home but stopped at Luke's, and was surprised to see nobody was there. So she had asked somebody what was going on tonight, and ran over to the school. It was when a slow song came on that Jen began to smile. She looked over at Luke who was staring at Lorelai who had her head once again in her hands.

"Uh, Lorelai?" Jen asked.

"Yeah?" She said looking up.

"Do you mind if I steal Luke for one dance?"

'Do I' she thought to herself. She forced a smile, "Of course!"

Luke glanced over uncomfortably at Lorelai. He gave her a, 'why would you say yes' sort of look. It was only with Lorelai that he danced. He didn't want everybody to this he was the new Wade. 'Before you know it, you'll be sleeping with Brittany' Lorelai thought to herself as she watched Jen and Luke walk to the center of the dance floor.

As soon as he put his arms around her, Babette and Patty ran up to her and started asking her questions as to why Luke was dancing with her. The sentence, 'are you guys on the rocks?' came up a lot. As soon as they left, Lorelai watched them intensely. Watching every move, every laugh, every smile. As much as she told herself that Jen was nothing, she still felt jealous.

When the song finally ended, they both walked up to Lorelai. Jen smiling, Luke...not so smiling. Lorelai stood up to greet them.

"Thanks for letting me borrow him." Jen said

"No problem!"

"Uhm, hey I'm going to run over to the diner real quick. Just check up on things, but I'll get you a cup of coffee if you want, to ya know...help your head."

"Ah, you're so sweet." She leaned in and kissed him on his neck.

As soon as Luke left, Lorelai sat right back down on the bleachers. She watched Sookie and Jackson dance, while Jen mingled her way around the gym.

"Bored?"

Lorelai looked up to see a very unfamiliar face. He looked about her age, tall, dark hair, green eyes, and...very cute.

"Headache."

He laughed a little. "My name is Justin. You are...?"

"Lorelai." He sat down next to her and watched her look around. His first thought was that she was beautiful. He had seen her around, but never talked to her, he had no idea who she was though.

"So, are you new around here?" She asked.

"Yeah, I just moved here a few day's ago, from California."

"Why the sudden change of location?"

"My mom lives around here. She's been sick lately, and I just felt it would be easier for me to be around with her. She needs some help...so, I'm here to help her."

"Oh well, I'm sorry to hear about your mother. But you moved to a pretty...unique place. Good luck."

"Weird people?" He asked, staring at the people dancing.

"Very weird. I'm sure, starting tomorrow there will be rumors that you and I are dating."

He laughed a little. "Now that wouldn't be so bad would it?"

'Wow, this guy is quick,' she thought. "Well, they'd probably all kill you for coming near me."

"Why is that? Don't date?"

"Oh no, I date." For some reason, she didn't want to mention Luke. Not at all because she was interested in this guy that she met less than 5 minutes ago, but because she didn't want to tell him the whole story of the 'coming together' of them. "I just, I have a boyfriend, and...everybody in town has always wanted us to be together, and we completely ignored it for 8 years, but...finally...they got their wish."

He looked a little disappointed, but nothing big. What could he expect, he JUST met this girl. "Well then that's good, right?"

"Yeah, it's great. Speak of the devil himself..." She said eyeing Luke who was walking up the bleachers to her. He looked confused, he shot glances at both Lorelai and Justin. Lorelai glanced over at Luke, she could tell he looked...slightly jealous, and didn't want him to be so she got up and gave him a quick kiss. "Glad your back. Ready to dance again?"

He put his arm around her, and looked at the guy still sitting down, watching them.

"Oh, this is...Justin." Lorelai said to Luke. "He just moved here about a week ago, so I was just warning him about the craziness of the town. Let him know what he's entering!"

"Luke Danes," Luke said bending down to shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you. Justin Graham."

They walked down, and Lorelai drank her coffee very quickly. She walked over to the trash can to throw her cup away, and took Luke to the center of the dance floor. Right then, a slow song came on, and Luke danced especially close to her this time.

"So, who's the guy?" Luke asked.

"I don't know. He just moved here, that's all I know."

"Hitting on you?"

She pulled away and winked at him. "Maybe..." She turned back and put her mouth to his ear. "But that's none of your business." He grinned to himself.

At about 9:30, the two walked back over to Lorelai's. When the got inside, they went directly to sit on the couch.

"My feet hurt." She said, propping them on top of Luke's lap.

"I'm not massaging your feet if that's what your hinting towards."

"Never," She said grinning slyly at him while putting her feet back down. She crawled on top of him so that she was straddling his lap, facing him. A piece of hair fell in front of her face, Luke reached up and pushed it behind her ear. Lorelai grabbed his chin, and slowly kissed him. She pulled away and just smiled at him. She loved looking at him, and he felt the same. "I'm so happy." She said.

He put his arms around her back and pulled her in to kiss her again. "I am too."

"Everything just seems so...perfect, doesn't it?" She asked.

"Yeah, it really does."

She leaned in and began kissing him. The feeling of his tongue sent shivers through her, still. It was something about the way he kissed her. He started exploring her back, slowly moving down to her waist. She pushed herself off of him so that she was sitting on the side of him, not breaking the kiss. He worked with her, and turned so that he was facing her. He leaned back, and she leaned on top of him. Luke's hands felt around her back, and side, while she worked her hands over his face. Finally, she pulled away and rested her head on his chest. She suddenly felt nervous. She glanced up the stairs. 'Oh hell' she thought. She got up and stood next to Luke who was still sitting on the couch.

"Do you want to go upstairs?" She asked, still nervous....hoping he'd make this easy for her.

"Yeah." He got up and Lorelai grabbed his hand, squeezing it lightly. They walked up the stairs and began kissing the second they entered the room. They both knew where this was going. Lorelai pulled away first, and grabbed Luke's face. "I love you Luke, and I just want you to know that." She said.

"I love you too."

He kissed her but she immediately pulled away and turned around so that her back was facing Luke. He lifted up his hands, and slowly untied the neck of her halter dress. As soon as the knot was untied, her dress slid off, revealing her in only her bra and underwear. She felt so nervous. Not because she was scared it was to soon, or because she didn't want to do this, but because she never imagined something feeling so correct. It was a new feeling for her. She knew this was what she wanted. She turned around a kissed him quickly. She pulled off his coat jacket, and started to unbutton his dress shirt. She slid it off of him, as they finished the rest themselves. Everything was so gentle about Luke, which actually surprised Lorelai. She never imagined Luke like this. Everything seemed so right between the two of them. And this only made things better, more realistic, and even more comfortable.

Up Next: A Very Random Encounter

Please review! And don't worry about Justin or Jen. They're just in their because I'm bored. Nothing more! I don't even remember if we see them again...maybe.


	13. A Very Random Encounter

Authors Note: Thank you guys for the awesome reviews! You all rock! Here's another chapter for you! Enjoy, and keep reviewing please!! Thanks again!

Just A Reminder: I wish they were mine, but they aren't. Watch the frog!

Chapter Thirteen: A Very Random Encounter

It was around 7 when Lorelai woke up the next morning. She didn't see Luke around, but she did see his flannel shirt and baseball hat sitting on "his side" of the bed. Lorelai got up, threw his big button down shirt over her, and put his baseball hat on backwards. She followed the scent of coffee to the kitchen where she saw Luke making breakfast. He didn't see her at first, so she walked up behind him, wrapped her arms around his stomach and gave him a small kiss on his neck. He turned around to return the greeting.

"Good morning," she said, going to fix herself a cup of coffee. "Don't I look cute?"

"Yes you do."

The phone rang, so Lorelai went to grab it.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mom!"

"Oh hey Rory, how are you?"

"I'm great, how are you?"

She glanced over at Luke and smiled, "I'm...great. How's Chicago? Hit up any parties yet?"

"Well, not yet. But we did meet some cool people out in town last night."

"Ah, you rebel. What have you guys been doing? Seeing cool places?"

"Yeah, well, we're having fun. We've been taking it easy, and lately just walking downtown. We've done a lot of shopping already. We're headed more towards the city today. We want to see they skyline at night, so, we're thinking of going out to dinner and then walking around."

"Sounds like you're having a great time. I miss you!"

"I know mom, I miss you too. But I'm sure you're just fine with Luke."

"Yeah, I am. We had a dance last night. I forgot to tell you! It was so funny, I got Luke to come! He danced with me! In front of everybody! Oh and he danced with this other girl but more details about that later."

"Another girl?"

"Yeah," she said quietly, "her name is Jen. She used to go to school over here with Luke. She 'borrowed him from me' but it's okay I met this other guy who occupied me later."

"What other guy?"

"I don't know, his name is Justin. He just moved here, and he was already trying to hit on me! That scandal."

"I'm sure."

"Well babe, I'll let you go. Email me later, okay? Or call. Or just come home, whatever suits you."

"Love ya mom."

"Love you too."

Lorelai walked back into the kitchen. Luke set two plates of food on the table, where he had already started eating.

"Rory?" He asked looking up.

"Yup!"

"Is she having fun?"

"Sounds like it."

"Good. Well, I'm going to get going. Sorry I couldn't stay longer. Come by after work, okay?"

"Will do!" She stood up and kissed Luke goodbye. Shortly after eating and showering she was headed to work. She went straight to the kitchen to find Sookie cooking something. So unusual.

"When things couldn't get any better...boom!"

"What? Is everything okay?"

"...They get better."

Lorelai smiled at Sookie. Sookie knew off the bat what she was talking about. It's one of those freaky friend looks that only the other person know's what you're talking about.

"You didn't!"

"We did."

"That's it, I'm picking out wedding invitations tomorrow."

"Sookie! It doesn't mean anything like that. It was just...the right time, and...it happend."

"Well good for you sweetie! I'm glad it made you happy."

"Okay, this conversation has taken a slightly weird turn. I'm going to get going now."

"Oh Lorelai!"

"Bye Sookie!"

It wasn't until about 4 that Lorelai left the Dragonfly. She had to do a little grocery shopping, for she only had running water in the house, so she headed to Dooses. While 'passing through' the candy isle, Lorelai bumped into somebody, knocking over there groceries.

"Ah, sorry!" She said bending over and picking up the things that had fallen out. She looked up and saw that Justin character.

"It's okay...Lorelai."

"No, no, I shouldn't be searching for the biggest bag of marshmallows."

He glanced over at her basket which was half full with junk food, he laughed a little and nodded. "You like candy?"

"Oh it's right below coffee on my list."

"Good to know." He winked at her and starting walking away. "It was nice to see you again."

'Gosh, you're cute and all, but Luke is way cuter. Don't you know I have a boyfriend?'

"You too!" She managed to say.

When finishing up over there, she went to Luke's. She took a seat at the counter. It was very empty for a Friday evening. 'Good' she thought.

"Luke!!" She screamed.

He came out as soon as he heard her. Although it appeared to her that he hated her constant loudness and incessant need to always talk, at heart, he really loved it.

"What?"

"Want to make one pretty little girl reallllly happy?"

"Not really, why?"

"Well...I was just looking around and it looks, oh I don't know, a little...empty."

"Your point is?"

"Why don't you come with me to my parents for dinner tonight!"

"Lorelai, no."

"Come on!" The bells jingled over the door and she saw Justin walk through. "If you don't come with me, I'll have to ask him."

"Fine, I'll come."

"I'm glad I can make you jealous."

She walked behind the counter and served herself a cup of coffee. She saw Justin staring at her from the counter so she grabbed the pad of paper and pen and walked over to him.

"Welcome to Luke's diner. How can I help you?" She said in a high-pitched voice.

Luke walked out and started blankly at her.

"Wait, wait, wait." She said, she walked over to Luke and took his plaid shirt off, revealing him only in a tee-shirt. She put his shirt on her, and walked back over to Justin. "Now, I'm ready. So what can I get for you?"

"Lorelai, what are you doing?" Luke asked.

"Isn't it clear to you? I'm helping you so we can go to my parent's house tonight."

Luke rolled his eyes and walked back to the kitchen, leaving Lorelai with Justin.

"So...." She started.

"I'll have a burger and coffee."

"Ah! You're my kind of guy!" She wrote it down on the pad and walked back through the kitchen.

"Lorelai, get out of here! You shouldn't be in here. You might...set something on fire or something."

"Oh Luke! Now that's the very worst thing. You have got to be kidding."

"No, I'm not. Out!" He gently pushed her through the door and she walked back to the counter and got Justin his cup of coffee.

"Here ya go."

"Thanks," he said smiling at her.

"Mmm hmm"

"So, what can a guy do around here to have fun on Friday night?" He asked trying to make simple conversation.

'It's not like your 20.' She thought to herself. 'Why do I think he's so annoying? He's nice, Lorelai. Be nice.' "Uhm...I don't know. Something's usually going on in this crazy town. There's gotta be something. I waste my Friday's going out to Hartford to go to go my parent's for dinner. I'm sure you can find something much more exciting than that."

Luke walked out through the kitchen and gave him his burger. Lorelai stood up and walked around the counter to give Luke a kiss goodbye.

"I'm going. Come over by 6:20. We can't afford to be late. Oh, and no plaid or baseball hats. As sexy as it may be, my parent's would probably have a heart attack."

"Yeah, yeah."

"See you around" she said to Justin.

"Bye, Lorelai."

Luke didn't really like the guy from the start. He thought he had something for Lorelai even though he just met her, but then again 'who wouldn't?' He thought.

They got to the Gilmore's right before 7. They walked hand in hand up to the door, and Lorelai rang the bell, impatiently waiting to get the evening over with.

"Hey," she turned to Luke before somebody answered the door, "thanks for coming with me tonight. Really...I appreciate it."

"No problem." Right when he leaned in to kiss her, the maid opened the door.

"Your parents are in the living room." She took their coats and they walked over to find Emily and Richard laughing on the couch.

"So sorry if we interrupted anything." Lorelai said.

"Oh hello Lorelai, Luke." Richard greeted them.

Emily glanced over and smiled at Lorelai. "I'm so glad you could join us, Luke."

"Glad I could come." He said.

"Can I get you two a drink?" Richard asked.

Lorelai glanced around the room, "Actually, I think I'm going to give Luke a tour around the house."

Lorelai grabbed Luke's hand and took her upstairs. Their first stop; her room. Lorelai opened the door, and slammed it behind her.

"So! Surviving alright so far?"

"Lorelai, we've been here for 5 minutes. Everything's fine."

"I know, I just...my mom keeps glaring at me. She keeps looking at me, thinking she's the smartest thing in the world. Well guess what mom, you aren't!"

"She's just happy for us. Why is that such a problem?"

"I hate when my mom's right."

Luke began to walk to the window, glancing outside to the balcony.

"Ah, you found my secret hiding space." She walked over and opened the window, crawling out.

"What in the world are you doing?"

"Come out here with me."

Luke apprehensively crawled out the window. Lorelai was pressed against the front of the balcony, looking over at the block. It was a nice night out, and she didn't mind the breeze.

"I used to spend a lot of time out here. Nothing better to do, but sneak out the ole' balcony window. You know, my parents never really caught on that I snuck out through here. They were kind of scared to enter my room. After I threw my porcelain doll at my dad when he walked in here without asking, they just let me have my personal space. But that didn't last as long as I hoped."

Luke walked up and put his arms around her from behind. "But things are okay now" he whispered in her ear.

She turned around, there faces only inches apart. She kissed him, and smiled. "Yeah, they are."

Right when they walked down the stairs, Lorelai's parents were walking to the dining room. They sat down in there seats, where Lorelai sat in hers, and Luke sat where Rory used to.

"Rory, you look so different!" Lorelai joked.

"Speaking of Rory, how is she?" Emily asked.

"She's good. She wants me to say hi. It seems like she's having a really good time in Chicago. I think she needed a little break." Lorelai felt safe saying that. She thought that now that her parents were getting along better, that Emily wouldn't mind so much.

"Very good to hear."

The rest of the night was easy, which is very unusual. Emily and Richard acted as if they were a perfectly fine couple. Emily, surprisingly didn't say one insulting thing to Luke, and Richard didn't weasel him into some business talk. Things were...good.

At around 9, they pulled up to Luke's. It was pretty empty, so Luke sent Caesar home, and him and Lorelai started cleaning up. When the cleaning was done, Lorelai sat down at a table for two at the back of the diner. Luke followed her and sat at the seat directly across the table.

She sighed, and looked up at Luke, smiling. Whenever she stared at him, it always resulted in a smile.

"Let's talk." She suggested.

"About what?"

Lorelai thought for a moment. She didn't know. "I don't know. Just something." They were both quiet for a second. "Luke. Why did it take us so long to be together? Really."

He knew exactly why it took so long. He thought it would be okay to tell Lorelai though, because they were at that point where he felt safe that she wouldn't think he's stupid.

"I never thought that you'd want to be with me. I didn't think that I deserved you, and that I couldn't make you happy enough. You deserve so much better than those guys that you've dated before though. And I knew deep down, that if you were ever with me, I'd treat you the way you'd want to be treated, but I never thought _you_ saw that in me. I watched you go out with all these guys, and I always just thought, will she date everybody but me?"

Lorelai felt like she had just been punched in the stomach. She felt so bad for him. Is that really what he thought? She felt guilty for making him feel like that, when she had absolutely no intentions to in the first place. She flashed him a quick look of confusion.

"Luke..." she said quietly, lost on words. "Why would you think something like that? You are so incredible. Rachael and Nicole were so lucky to have you. You are such an amazing guy. I can't imagine there ever being somebody better than you, because there isn't. And I know that if something ever happens between us, that I'll never find somebody like you, ever again."

He smiled at her and leaned across the table to kiss her. She placed her hands on his face and slowly wandered.

"What do you say we go up for the night?" He said, pulling her up.

"Let's go."

Right before Luke started to walk up the stairs, she walked over to him and gave him a huge hug. She never wanted to be so close to somebody.

"Gosh, it's freezing up here!"

"Here..." Luke walked over to his closet and pulled out a red and blue plaid shirt and put it on her. She loved when she wore his clothes. Something about it made her feel, extra cute.

Luke sat down at the end of the couch, legs open a little. Lorelai sat down sideways inbetween his legs and they began to watch TV. Luke rested his hands on the inside of Lorelai's thighs. 5 minutes into the TV show, she leaned in and kissed him deeply. Not breaking any interactions, he turned so that he was almost lying flat down on the couch. She laid on top of him, closing the gaps between them. She threw his baseball hat onto the floor and ran her fingers through his hair, while he placed his fingers right below the end of her shirt. He lifted his fingers so that he was lightly touching the bare of her back, moving up slowly, when all of a sudden Luke's phone rang. They broke apart, and Luke looked confused.

"Who's calling?" He asked himself, out loud.

"Ah, well look who turned into Mr. Popularity overnight."

He walked over to the phone and answered. "Hello?"

Lorelai laid impatiently on the couch twirling her hair. She got up and walked over to Luke's dresser pulling out a pair of sweat pants that he rarely wore. Although they were huge on her, she took off her skirt, and changed into his sweat pants while he was just staring at her like she was an idiot. She rolled them up and tied the drawstring so that they would actually stay on.

"Yeah, hold on." Luke pulled the phone away and handed it to Lorelai, "it's for you."

"For me?" She asked, while grabbing the phone.

"Hello?"

"Lorelai, hi, sorry to disturb you, but you're cell phone was off, and you weren't answering at home, and I needed to ask you something."

"What Sookie?"

"Did the party for tomorrow want Strawberry Shortcake, or Strawberry Cake tomorrow? I just...I know it sounds stupid, but I have to get baking, and I have to get the right ingredients."

"Sookie...has it occurred to you that it's 9:30, don't you think you can wait till tomorrow? What's open now?"

"I know, but I didn't want to bother you on your day off tomorrow."

"Strawberry shortcake, goodbye Sookie."

"Thanks, bye. You two kids have fun."

"Oh Sookie..."

She hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed. She walked back over to the couch where Luke followed her.

"Sorry about that," she said lying beside him on the couch, beginning to re-enact what they were once doing.

It was around 3:00 the next day when Lorelai was just leaving a party store in Hartford. She had to pick something up for one of the parties at the Inn next week. She drove to a near by coffee shop to get a cup before heading back home. She sat down and waited for somebody to attend to her.

"Lorelai?" A familiar voice asked.

She looked over, and her eyes widened. "Wow." That was pretty much all she could get out.

Up Next: It's Too Late


	14. It's Too Late

Authors Note: Don't hate me...because I love you all so very much! Look the bottom for another authors note after you're done with this chapter! Thanks for the reviews! Please, keep reviewing, even if they're mean! Much love

Just A Reminder: ASP's. My imagination, though.

Chapter Fourteen: It's Too Late

"Max." She said quietly to herself.

"How are you Lorelai?"

"Uhm, shocked. I haven't seen you in quiet some time."

"I know, it's been too long." He said moving to the seat next to Lorelai. "How are things with you?"

Lorelai was still stunned to see him. Max, her ex-fiancee. This wasn't just some random ex-boyfriend. She was going to get married to this guy. And although she'd seen him at CHilton for the Bicentennial, still. It had been some time. "I am...great, how are you Max?"

"I'm doing better now. I'm so glad to see you."

The lady walked up to Lorelai and handed her a takeout cup of coffee. She paid the lady, and started walking towards the door with Max following her. They sat down outside on a bench in a little park behind the coffee shop.

"So, what's going on with you? Still living in California?" She said, sipping her coffee, avoiding eye contact with him.

"I'm back actually. I'm starting to teach around here again. How's the Independence Inn?"

"I believe it's called the Dragonfly."

"What?"

"Sookie, Michel, and I just opened the Dragonfly Inn a few weeks ago. Everything's going great."

"That's good to hear. How is Rory? Did she enjoy her first year at Yale?"

"Oh, yeah, gosh, she loves it there. We're all...good."

There was a long, awkward silence. Lorelai purposely acted like drinking gulps of coffee was the most important thing to her, when really it was just burning her throat.

They ended up talking for a good 10 minutes, about work, and family, and things, but no where in there conversation did the topic of boyfriends or girlfriends come up.

Max moved in a little closer to Lorelai. It felt like they were miles apart from eachother. "I can't tell you how good it is to see you." He said.

He leaned in even closer to Lorelai, and quickly went in for a kiss. She didn't stop him. Although she wasn't completely aware it was coming, something came over her. She froze, and just returned the kiss. He parted there lips with his tounge. Something felt so scary, so wrong, but Lorelai didn't pull away. It had been almost a minute until Lorelai realized what she was doing. She pulled away quickly and closed her eyes, sighing extremely loud. She looked so worried. Like nothing could be worse.

"Lorelai?"

She opened her eyes, and before she know's it, Max's lips were against hers again. Once again, they repeated the pattern, and finally Lorelai came to her senses, pulling away and standing up. She threw her hands in her face, and lightly stomped on the floor.

"Is everything okay?" He asked, looking at her confused.

She shook her head, and stared at him for a moment in disbelief. Did she really just kiss him, twice?

"No Max, everything is not okay. I can't believe that just happend. Max, it's too late. It's too late for all of this. I can't believe what I just did. I'm in love Max. Can't you see that?"

"Well, you didn't say anything, Lorelai." He stood up, trying to get closer to her, to comfort her.

Suddenly, Lorelai realized this time was all her fault. She didn't mention Luke, to Chris, or Max. And this is how she got in these positions. She didn't tell Max anything, what better did he know? It was all her fault, and it was too late to fix anything.

"Max, I have to go. I have to go right now." She stared walking, and he followed after her.

"Lorelai, wait."

Lorelai started walking quicker, and eventually broke into a run. She ran to her car, put the keys in, and drove home crying. 'How could I have messed up so badly? This wasn't a simple mistake. Luke wouldn't understand me this time. It was my fault, I'm stupid, I should have pulled away right away. I shouldn't have let him kiss me again.' Tears were streaming down her face when she finally pulled up to her house. She ran inside, avoiding anybody that might be around. Nobody could see her like this. She couldn't show her face to anybody. Especially Luke. She ran up to her room, and grabbed the phone immediately, dialing Rory's cell phone.

After 5 rings, her answering machine picked up. "It's Rory...leave a message if you must."

"Damnit!" Lorelai called out loud. She pressed redial, and got the answering machine yet again. She did this another 3 times until Rory finally answered.

"Hello??"

"Rory."

Lorelai sounded like she had been crying. Hell–she still was, although it had slowed down somewhat.

"Mom, are you okay?" Lorelai was silent for a little while, "Mom? Are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here." She sniffled through the phone, Rory knew she was crying.

"Mom, what's the matter?"

"Rory, I made a huge mistake. And now, it's too late to take it back."

"What did you do?" Rory asked frantically.

"I went to a coffee shop today," she began, "and who to my surprise is sitting next to me? That would be Max. Yeah, the guy that I loved, well sort of..the guy that I almost got married too. Good ole' Max. You're teacher Max, my ex-fiancee Max."

"Mom, I know who Max is."

"We were talking, Rory. And we went outside, and we were just talking, and before I know it, he's kissing me. I didn't pull away, Rory." Lorelai had began to start crying more, "When I finally came to my senses, I pulled away. It was too late though. He's kissing me again, and I'm doing nothing. I'm sitting there, as if things are okay with us, when in reality they are far from okay."

Rory was speechless. She knew her mother very well. Well enough to know that this was a huge mistake, and that it'd take some time to get over. "Mom, I..."

"Luke, Rory. I can't stand hurting him. I can't imagine how crushed he's going to be. That's why I didn't want to begin things with him in the first place! Because I'm stupid, and I can't stand hurting him. I don't know if things are going to be okay between the two of us. What if..." Her voice was quivering slightly, "what if we break up? Rory, I love him so much, I can't bare to be away from him. I didn't mean to let Max kiss me." At this point, she wasn't crying that much, she was practically screaming into the phone like a little baby.

"Mom...you have to tell Luke. And the sooner you tell him, the better. After you guys talk about it, I'm sure things will be okay. You have to go talk to him though."

"It's not that easy. I'm so scared. He's going to hate me. He'll never want to talk to me again."

"That's not true. Go talk to him, soon. Tell him everything you told me. About how you love him, and how it was a mistake. Go, mom. You have to. Call me later. I love you."

"You too." She hung up and sat in her bed, massaging the temples of her head with the palms of her hands. She had never felt so stupid, and humiliated. She needed to tell him, she reached over and grabbed the phone.

After a few rings, he finally answered. "Luke's."

The sound of his voice made her stomach immediately weak. A feeling of nerves washed over her. It hurt to hear him talk.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Lorelai?"

She couldn't say much without her voice cracking. She had to end the conversation quickly, before he started prying for answers. She wanted to tell him in person after all. And she had to do it tonight.

"Yeah, it's me."

"What's up?"

"I need you to come over." She said , her voice cracking slightly.

"Is everything okay?"

"Just...I need you to come over in a little bit. What time is it?"

"It's almost 4:30."

"Come over in a half hour. Okay?"

"Uh...yeah, I'll be there." She wasn't the only one nervous anymore.

She managed to go in the shower and change her clothes before he came. At about 4:25, Lorelai sat nervously on her couch. She was so scared. She had no idea how he'd take it. When she heard the door bell ring, she practically jumped out of her skin. She walked over to the door and forced a pathetic little smile out. Her legs felt like jellow, and her head was pounding.

"Hi" She said pulling him inside.

"How are you?" He asked.

"I'm okay, how are you?"

He looked at her suspiciously. She wasn't okay, he knew it. He knew that this wasn't going to be a good conversation.

"I'm alright..."

She grabbed his hand and walked him over to the couch. She sat down next to him. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She couldn't stand looking at him without feeling so hurt.

"Luke," she began. Her voice was shaking and he could completely tell. Tears swelled to her eyes. She tried so hard to keep them back, but she couldn't. "I made a mistake."

Luke just stared at her, sadly. For the first time ever, Lorelai looked at him and he looked small. It was like when she told her parents that she was pregnant. They looked so small, and helpless. And now, Luke did. He couldn't help her with any of this. He kept staring at her, waiting for her to continue. She closed her eyes and bit her lip slightly.

"Luke...today, I saw Max."

You could see the anger in Luke's eyes the second she said Max. He always hated Max. And to know that this had to do with him, of all people, angered him so much more than he could have been. 'Why Max?' He thought.

"And..." he was able to mumble out.

"And we were talking. And, then...he kissed me." Luke sighed. He was a little relieved to hear that was all. Or was it?

"And, I didn't exactly pull away right away." Her words started to quicken. "After a little while, I realized that it wasn't you."

Luke was getting so angry, this was her second time doing something like this. First with Chris, then with Max. "I'm glad to see you aren't blind."

"Luke, he kissed me. And I kissed him back. But when I pulled away, I realized what had happend. And I realized what a mistake I made. But before I could do, or say something to him, he was kissing me again. And I was stuck in that same position. I didn't do know to do. I froze, and I let him kiss me. I kissed him back." She finished quietly. She looked so scared. Luke began to make a face. A face full of madness.

He stood up and started pacing back and forth through the living room, glaring at Lorelai.

"This is your second time Lorelai." He said.

She began to cry, she felt so bad, she felt so uncontrollable. "I know" she whispered.

"First you let Chris kiss you. And I can understand to some extent how that's okay. It wasn't your fault then, but those two kisses you had with Max. Those my friend, were your fault." He found himself yelling. He was so hurt, and he wanted her to know.

She just stared at him. She had nothing to say. She knew what she did was wrong. She knew she couldn't fix things now. She knew that he had every right to be mad.

"Why did you let him do it Lorelai?"

She thought. She didn't know why, and that was the truth. "I don't know Luke. I don't know. I saw him, and I was immediately confused. I hadn't mentioned that you and I were dating, and he just kissed me. I pulled away, but he kissed me again. And I eventually pulled away from that one too."

He was so sick of hearing those words, 'he kissed me, I kissed him.' Was she purposely trying to rub it in his face even more?

"Why were you confused? Are you having doubts about us, Lorelai? Because if so, I have to know."

"No Luke, I'm not. I don't know what came over me. I don't–I don't..." she was lost, "I don't know what to tell you."

"You know, this wouldn't be so bad, if you would have 'pulled away' quicker. But now it's too late and there's nothing you can do about it." He said... "I just don't understand. I thought things were going so good with us."

"They were. They...are." She managed to say. He wasn't the only hurt one. She felt so hurt because even though things with Luke were going great, she was confused as to why she didn't pull away quicker. Did she actually enjoy kissing Max again? She didn't know.

"I don't know, Lorelai. I love you, but if you are so confused, and you are kissing other guys, I don't know–maybe...maybe we shouldn't be dating right now. I think you need some time to work things out."

"But Luke, I love you too."

"Well, you have weird ways of showing it. You don't see me kissing Rachel, or Nicole these days do you? No you don't. Because if I ever saw them, Lorelai, the first thing I'd tell them is that you and I are dating. Because that's something I'm proud of. You on the other hand, I don't know." He began walking towards the door. "Goodbye, Lorelai." He said opening it.

He started to walk out. Lorelai's voice was so quiet. She couldn't manage to say something louder than the soft whisper that eventually muttered out, "Luke don't go." But it was too late, he was already driving off.

'The first thing I'd tell them is that you and I are dating. Because that's something I'm proud of.' She thought about his words over in her head. Those one's in specific. That's what hurt her the most. That's what made her heart go out to him. She knew that would be the first thing he'd tell them. He finally got Lorelai, after all this time. So why shouldn't she be telling Max, and Chris these things? That she didn't have an answer to. She went up to her bedroom and cried herself to sleep. She knew she messed things up badly. As bad as they'll possibly get. He was gone, and they weren't together for the meantime. She burned inside, and as the tears ran down her cheeks, she felt so empty and alone. She knew she didn't have Luke anymore. Not until she fixed things up, but that could take..._forever._

Up Next: Rain Does Crazy Things

Authors Note: Okay...so don't hate me! Because, you have to realize that if they were together the whole time...what fun would that be? So PLEASE review! I want to know what you guys think! I need some sorta feedback before I keep posting. But, the next chapter...is my favorite! So, yeah...just remember, JAVAJUNKIES all the way! :o)


	15. Rain Does Crazy Things

Authors Note: Alright guys first off-thank you for the great feedback I've been getting from all of you! It means a lot! Secondly-This is the chapter I had in my head the whole story...and you might realize that this is the chapter where the characters (mostly Lorelai) are out of character. But I liked the idea of having her in this like depressed slump, only leading to a better come back. So, I know some of it seems unrealistic, but try to bare with me! Thank's guys! Enjoy the chapter

Just A Reminder: Disclaimer, reminder, same things. Not mine-don't sue.

Chapter Fifteen: Rain Does Crazy Things

Later that night, Lorelai finally woke up. She looked around, and had no idea what time it was. She glanced out the window, it was pitch black. She glanced at the clock that read 9:30, and saw her reflection in the mirror. She gasped at her swollen, puffy eyes. 'So it wasn't a nightmare.' She thought. Her head was pounding, she needed coffee. There was no way she could show her face at Luke's though. She grabbed her laptop, and sat in her bed writing Rory an email.

_I **really **messed up badly, Rory. I don't know what to do...Luke is so mad at me. He said that maybe we shouldn't be dating right now if I was so confused, and kissing other guys. I'm not confused though. I want to be with Luke, and only Luke. That goes without said, but Rory, I don't know why I let Max kiss me. I don't know why I didn't fight for him to get off of me. I could have ended it in a second, but I didn't, and that's what kills me. So, here I am, alone again. I can't show my face at Luke's. I don't know how things will be when I see him. Awkward, of course, but what? Are we even friends? I have no clue as to where we stand, and it hurt's so badly. Here I am again, broken heart and all. I love you-mom._

She laid back against the headboard and glanced at the phone.

"I've got to fix things." She said, grabbing the phone and dialing the number of the diner.

"Luke's." He said very blandly. You could tell he was in a bad mood.

Lorelai didn't say anything. She sat there, staring blankly ahead of her.

"Hello?" He repeated, and hung up before she could say something.

She fell asleep not to long afterwards, and slept in until 11. 'That's unusual.' She woke up, depressed. 'What a great way to start my day' she thought while the moments of last night flashed through her head. Still, with a pounding headache all she wanted was coffee from Luke's.

"Dragonfly Inn."

"Sookie?"

"Yeah, it's me, what's up sweetie?" From the tone in Lorelai's voice, she could tell something was wrong. She sounded sad, and quiet.

"Can you come over here for a little bit?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Not really...but I'll explain. Is the Inn crowded? Do you think you could sneak out for a little bit without Michel going crazy?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"Sookie?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Will you just grab me a cup of coffee from Luke's on your way over here."

Sookie caught on the second she asked her to get her coffee. Why wouldn't she just go herself? Something had to of happend. But now was not the time to pester.

"Of course...I'll see you in a little bit."

When Luke heard the bells jingle over the door, he looked up and saw Sookie staring at him. 'Could she already possibly know?' He grabbed a towel and started scrubbing one certain spot on the counter.

"Coffee to go, please." Sookie said while placing the money out on the counter.

They made awkward eye contact. Sookie didn't want to mention anything, because she wasn't sure as to what was going on. Luke looked at her as if she knew what was going on though. He handed her the cup and took the money from the counter.

"Thanks"

He nodded, and she walked out. No words said, no questions asked. 'Great, now I'm the bad guy' he thought. 'Just because she can't make up her mind who she wants to be with, I'm the mean one.'

After a few knocks at the door, Sookie let herself in, wandering through out the house. "Lorelai? Are you here?" She eventually made her way to Lorelai's closed door. She opened it slowly, and saw Lorelai sitting on the edge of her bed, crying softly into her hands. Sookie sat down next to her and rubbed her back. When Lorelai finally got the strength to move, she wiped away her tears, grabbed the coffee from Sookie and took one, long sip.

"What's the matter Lorelai?"

"We broke up." She said quietly. She hated saying those three words. It felt like she was stepping on herself, the stupidity rubbing in even more. Those words sounded so isolated. It made her realize in reality, they were no longer together, and that things might never be the same between them. "This is exactly what I was afraid of."

"Afraid of what?"

"Hurting him. I didn't mean to Sookie. I promise, I didn't."

"What happend?"

Lorelai sighed, and closed her eyes, rethinking her encounter with Max. She hated telling people the story, but knew that Sookie deserved some sort of explanation.

"I went to a coffee shop after shopping around in Hartford yesterday. And as the lady gave me my coffee, I heard somebody call my name from the other side of the counter, and there he was. Max." Sookie's face dropped a little. "So, we walked outside, and started talking on the this bench behind the shop, and he kissed me." She took a long pause.

"That's not that bad. Did you explain to Luke that he was the one who kissed you?"

She continued, ignoring Sookie's question. "And, I didn't pull away right away. I was a little shocked, and a little confused, and let him kiss me. I finally came to my senses and pulled away. I tried to say something, but the words just wouldn't come out. So, he kissed me again, and I let him again. I kissed him _back again_, _I messed up again_. And when I finally pulled away, I told him that I had to go, and I just ran. I ran from him, and I ran to my car, and raced home, crying." She said in choppy sentences.

Sookie tried to find the right words to say, but weren't sure what they were. "How did Luke take it?" That wasn't exactly what she thought she should say, but it's the first thing that came out.

"Badly. It's not like I slept with him, Sookie. But, I do know that I let him kiss me twice, and I continued kissing him. That's not something a person in love does, Sookie. And I'm so confused, because...I know I'm in love with Luke. And I know that I have zero feelings for Max, but I'm just so confused as to why I didn't pull away. I didn't exactly enjoy the kiss, but still."

"Lorelai, you almost got married to Max. I see why it's so confusing. Sure you might not have feelings for him that show, but deep down, in the back of your heart and head, you know a little scar of Max will always be there. And, the scar just took over."

Lorelai thought about what Sookie said for a moment. She nodded, and suddenly, things became much clearer to her.

"You're right. It's just...when I saw him, all these old feelings came back. Not necessarily good ones, but not necessarily bad one's either. Just...Max feelings. But it's not like I'd ever want to start something with Max, or anybody, except for Luke. He's the only one that I want to be with, Sookie."

"Well then you're going to have to tell him that."

"But he won't understand. I tried telling him, and he just said that we shouldn't be together."

"Give him some time. When I saw him today, he looked upset. I knew something was wrong when you asked me to get you coffee. And when I got there, he didn't even talk to me. He just gave me a weird stare, and handed me the coffee. I don't think he's so happy about the decision he made."

"Yeah, well, I can't imagine him forgiving me so quickly. I was stupid, he should take all the time he needs. And as much as I'm going to hate that, I'm going to have to wait until he's ready to forgive me. And I don't know how long it will take, but however long it is...I'm going to wait. Even if it takes a year, I'm waiting."

Sookie smiled sympathetically. "I'm glad to hear it." She glanced over at the clock, "I've gotta get back to the Inn, so I'll talk to you later okay? Take it easy." She turned over to Lorelai and gave her a big hug. She needed that.

"Thanks, Sookie."

"Feel better. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

She nodded and watched Sookie walk out the door. The second she disappeared, Lorelai fell into the gloom again. The feeling that nothing would ever be okay again, the feeling that she could never get the guts up to show her face to Luke...she felt sick to her stomach.

For the rest of the day, she stuck around the house, wallowing. She wanted nothing more than to go to Luke's and for everything to be okay, or at least...normal, but that was too much to wish for. She needed somebody to be there with her...Rory. But Rory was thousand's of mile's away, having fun, and probably coming up with answers to her problems where Lorelai sat on the couch, confused, depressed, and alone.

The next morning, Lorelai woke up at around 10. The first thing she did was grab the phone and call the Inn.

"Dragonfly Inn, Michel speaking."

"Michel, let me talk to Sookie."

"Lorelai? Is that you? No, no...it can't be. Because Lorelai should be here, answering phone's with me."

"Michel, give Sookie the phone right now."

"Just a second, let me see if _she's_ in her proper area."

He walked into the kitchen and threw the phone at Sookie. "It is for you."

As he walked out of the kitchen, she answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, it's me." She said quietly.

"How are you?"

"Not so good. Listen Sookie, I don't think I can come into today. I really don't feel good."

"Haven't talked to Luke yet?"

"No, I haven't, and I don't know when I will. But, for now, I just feel sick, and I don't think it'd be good to come in. Will you be okay without me?" Although she embellished a little bit on the feeling of sickness, over her feeling of depression, Sookie went along with it.

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Get better, okay?"

"Thanks."

Lorelai spent the whole day in her bed, doing nothing. It wasn't until abut 6 when she got out her laptop to see if Rory had emailed her back, and to her luck, she did.

_Hi Mom...how are you? I really hope things are getting better with you. I don't know what to say about you and Luke other than you should try and fix things up as soon as possible. I wish I could be there with you, but unfortunately I can't. I'm having a great time in Chicago. The city is beautiful, and we're meeting a lot of nice people. Call me whenever you're in the mood. I miss you tons. Love, Rory._

It took her 20 minutes before pressing the 'reply' button. She was so weak, and emotionally tired. She hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning, and hadn't showered for a few days. She was dirty, hungry, and bored. Bored with everything...and had no energy, whatsoever.

_I'm glad to hear you are having fun in Chicago. Enjoy it while it lasts. -Mom_

She clicked send, and put the laptop on the floor. She laid on her bed and thought, 'that wasn't what I was planning on writing.' She had no energy to write anything more, though. She didn't even write love. The thought of saying that word made her sick to her stomach. All she wanted to do was talk to Luke, but knew that she couldn't...at least not yet.

She did nothing for the rest of the night. She stayed in her bed all day, with a few occasional trips to the bathroom, but not once did she go down to the kitchen to get a bite to eat, or even a cup of coffee. She never went more than a few hours without a cup of coffee, but she hadn't had any for over 24 hours.

At 10 the next morning, Lorelai called up the Inn and told Sookie that once again she wouldn't be coming in. Luckily, Sookie understood, otherwise, it wouldn't be so easy. It's not like she was doing anything with herself. She finally went down to make a pot of coffee, and grabbed a pop tart. She re-adjusted herself on the couch under a blanket and took a sip of her coffee.

'Oh gross,' she thought to herself while putting down the coffee. 'That's the worst coffee I've ever had. I'd rather drink the coffee from Parents Night when I first saw...Max.' Shaking her head, she took the smallest bite of her pop tart, and put that down too. Suddenly, she wasn't hungry. She found herself in the familiar position of sleeping. She slept most of the day. That's all she found herself to do. She didn't want to get up or do anything. 'This is so horrible,' she thought, 'I have to get up. I can't do this any longer. I can't be one of those depressed girls that don't eat or move for weeks.' She made her first attempt to turn the TV on in over 2 days, and watched a crappy reality show that she thought would make her laugh, but without fail, she went laugh less.

Towards 10:45 PM, it started raining hard. Although she couldn't tell the full effects of the rain, and didn't want to get up to see them, her conclusion came to: It was raining hard.

Wearing an old pair of sweat pants and a stained grey sweatshirt, like a zombie, Lorelai got up from the couch. Not bothering putting on her shoes, she walked outside on the front porch. It was _pouring_ out. Thundering and lightning _like crazy._

"This is so stupid," she whispered.

All of a sudden, Lorelai was running through the rain towards Luke's, barefoot. It didn't go without seconds of either lightning, or thundering, but that didn't stop Lorelai from running. She ran as fast as humanly possible. Or at least as fast as any temporarily paralyzed person could. When she arrived at the diner, she looked in from the window and saw Luke scrubbing a table. She started hysterically crying. She ran up to the door, and opened it. Luke looked up, and saw Lorelai, soaking wet, sobbing. She ran up to him, and grabbed him towards her. She dragged him outside, in the pouring rain.

"Lorelai, what are you doing? Are you going through some sort of psychotic phase?"

She was crying harder than ever. She was being drenched by the falling rain, but that didn't stop her. Gasping for air, she threw her head in her hands and started to fall over onto the soaking wet sidewalk. She found herself sitting in a little puddle with her head inbetween her legs, crying. Luke bent down and tried to pick her up, but she refused. Finally after a few moments, she lifted her head up and stared at Luke. She came to her senses and stood up. She grasped onto Luke's hands because she needed some type of support. And even though in reality she was only a few feet away from him, she felt miles and miles away. She never felt so far from somebody.

"Lor--" Luke started.

"LUKE! Don't talk!" She screamed. She was still crying...hard, but tried to say something. With the rain, and thunder, it was hard for them to hear eachother, so screaming was all they had left to do. After a few seconds, her crying slowed down just a little. To the point where she could almost get words without taking a break after every word. "We can't be like this! I can't be away from you! I love you so much Luke. You have no idea," she shouted. "I have been so depressed for the past 3 days, and I can't imagine being without you Luke!" Her crying slowed down even more, she hair was dripping wet and falling in her eyes, but she continued talking anyways. "I was an idiot, Luke! I was stupid! It was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made, letting Max kiss me! I shouldn't have let him, and I shouldn't have hurt you! And I've realized, Luke, that I didn't let him kiss me because I have feelings for him. But because I was so confused, I never knew I could ever be this happy. It all seemed like a dream until Max kissed me. Then my dream suddenly turned into reality. I realized that I needed this mistake to happen for me to see how much you mean to me. I wouldn't ever let something like this happen, ever again! Because I love you more than I've ever loved anybody."

Luke looked at her...surprised. This wasn't like Lorelai. She was always so independant, never needing anybody in her life, but this time it was different, and he knew it. She looked at him with begging eyes. She wiped away the water and tears from her face, and pushed back her hair. She grabbed her head and starting squeezing it. She closed her eyes, and prayed silently for him to say something. But he didn't. He leaned in and pressed his lips hard against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he put his around her waist, slightly picking her up. She broke away, still crying, "I love you Luke," she said quietly, repeating herself over and over again. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me! Please don't hate me!" She suddenly got quiet, "I need you in my life."

He couldn't deny her. He needed her too. She wasn't the only one that had been depressed. He had spent the past 3 day's thinking only about her. And although what she did was stupid, and completely uncalled for, he had to forgive her. Even if they talked about it for a little longer, he needed her more than anything, and that's how it was going to have to be.

He picked her up, and walked her into the diner and up to his apartment. He turned on the shower, she was freezing. So was he.

"Get in," he said.

She was shivering in her freezing clothes.

"Get in with me. You're going to freeze." She shouted over the water falling against the shower.

Up Next: If Forgiving Was a Game...

Authors Note: Okay, so now there least partially made up-next chapter everything goes back to nor...


	16. If Forgiving Was A Game

Authors Note: This is the second part of their making up! Enjoy...and really, thank you all for the feedback you've been leaving! You guy's are the best! Enjoy the chapter. (By the way, I finished the story, there are 20 chapters, so it's coming to an end! But I've already started working on another story in case any of you are intrested!)

Just A Reminder: I wish they were mine, but they're not so no credit para me! (Beside's my weird ideas...)

Chapter Sixteen: If Forgiving Was A Game...

When they got out of the shower, Lorelai threw a towel over her and looked at her soaking wet clothes on the floor.

"I don't have any dry clothes." She said quietly. Although they had made up...to some extent, there was still a little tension in the room. She found herself being particularly quiet and often staring off into space. She was very worried, nervous, and even a little paranoid. She knew he couldn't be over it that quickly.

Luke walked over to his dresser and handed her a pair of old PJ pants he had and a plaid shirt. She looked at them curiously. "Uh, hi...I don't see any underwear in this pile of clothing."

"Well, last time I looked through my drawers, I didn't see any underwear for you. It's not like you, or Nicole left any here over time."

He quickly took back what he said. 'Ah, that wasn't the right time to say that' he kicked himself. She made awkward eye contact with him and nodded her head. She opened one of his drawers and pulled out a pair of his boxers. "I'm wearing these." She threw him the PJ pants back. He wasn't in the mood to argue.

She walked over to the couch and sat stiffly at the end. She fidgeted with her hands as she watched Luke walk over to her. He sat down on the opposite end of the couch. They both sat there, staring straight ahead. Lorelai was biting her nails, and Luke was tapping his legs with his fingers.

'Boy is this strange,' Lorelai thought. "Let's talk." She said...both of them still staring straight ahead.

He nodded his head, and Lorelai scooted next to him, sitting cross legged facing him. He turned his head so that he was facing her. She lied her hands on his thighs and stared at him sadly.

"Luke...I'm so sorry." It was all she could get out for the meantime. "I didn't mean to hurt you." She said moments later.

He looked through her...to her heart which was begging for forgiveness and he knew it. He gave in easily.

"I forgive you." He said softly.

"If forgiving was a game..." she began.

"I'd win?" He asked.

"Luke, it can't be this easy. I hurt you, really badly, and I hurt myself too, and as much as I want to, we can't just push this behind us. I can't know that if I ever have the sudden urge to kiss another guy, that in the end you'll always be there for me. I can't let myself stomp over you." She said pleadingly.

"So, you're planning on doing this again, huh?"

"No, I'm not. And I want you to know that. I want–I_ need_...you to trust me. And I understand if you can't for now, but I need you someday to be able to trust me. I don't care how long it takes, but I'll always be waiting. I want things to...I don't know, go back to normal."

"What's normal, Lorelai?"

"I don't know. The honeymoon stage?" She tried. "I just want us to be happy, and not have this image of me kissing Max stuck in our minds. I want you to love me without hating me at the same time."

He sighed, and stared at her for a few moments. "I don't hate you."

"Good."

They were both quiet for a moment. Both with lots on their minds, but didn't know what to say.

"Why did you do it, Lorelai?"

She thought for a long time...for a reasonable answer. She tried telling him earlier, while they were outside in the rain, but things didn't come out the right way. She was a mess back there, and didn't know what the heck she was saying. She needed to give him a straight, and forward answer. She didn't really have one though. She was still lost in her own footsteps.

"Luke...I don't know. I mean, here I am, talking with this guy who I almost got married too." She stressed the word married. "Sure I don't have feelings for him at the moment, and don't intend on having any again, but it's sort of like...I don't know...Rachel. When you see her, something comes back. And it doesn't matter if you're in love with me, you still just get those old feelings you know?"

He nodded his head in agreement. She continued, "so, I was just sitting there, talking with him. And when he kissed me the first time...I had every intention to pull away. But, I froze. I was scared, and didn't know what was going on. When I had pulled away, I realized what had happend and instantly regretted it. I'd say that the first kiss was sort of what happend with Christopher."

She took a long pause, and stared off towards the door. As much as she wanted to run and pretend none of this happend, she couldn't. "And when he leaned in to do it again, something came over me. And after a few moments of realizing what was going on, for yet a second time, I realized that this isn't what I want to be doing. Luke...it's not like I wanted him to do it. But when you're in the position I was in, I just froze. I didn't know what do but let him kiss me. It's not like I meant to hurt you. You know that right? You know that I didn't enjoy those kisses. It's not like if I had the opportunity to do it again, I would. It's just something that happend, and I didn't realize what happend till afterwards."

"Lorelai," he started. She looked at him with begging eyes, scared of what he'd say next. "I understand what you are saying. And...I trust you. I know you would never let something like that happen again. I really do understand."

She felt like 100 pounds had just been removed from her shoulders. She couldn't help but smile. "Good, because...I love you." She said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I love you too."

They lied there in silence for a few minutes. Lorelai finally lifted her head up and stared at him as if he just said something really confusing. "You know what?"

"Hmm?"

"I think that this...accident," she said softly, "proved something to me. It made me understand how much you really mean to me, and that there's never going to be somebody who can get in the way of us. It made me realize that I love you more than I thought...that there's nobody out there better than you." All he could do was smile.

"Let's go to sleep. You've gotta get to work tomorrow, don't you?"

"Yeah, I haven't been there since Friday."

As they settled into the bed, and turned the lights out, Lorelai sat there and re-thought about her past 3 day's.

"I was miserable," she said quietly. "I deserved to feel the way I did."

He leaned over and kissed her on her cheek. "No you didn't."

Lorelai laid with her back facing Luke. He crept in close to her and wrapped his hands over her back and around her waist. They slept the whole night peacefully, and closer than ever.

Lorelai woke up and looked around the room to find the clock. It was 5:30. Surprisingly, Luke was still sleeping even though he'd have to open the diner shortly. She crept out of bed and went to grab a piece of paper and a pen, beginning to write Luke a note and left quietly.

When he woke up not to long after that, the first thing he wondered was where Lorelai was. 'She couldn't have gone without waking me up' he thought. He walked over to the table, and saw a note lying there.

_Good morning. Sorry I had to ditch you. You looked like you were sleeping good and I didn't want to disturb you. I have to go back home and get ready for work. Unfortunately I owe them a lot of hours over there. Tonight, come over if you can. I want to make you dinner. Scary, scary thought...I know, but trust me. I love you Luke, and once again, I'm sorry.  
-Lorelai_

He read it twice, the second time for sub-text. Something Lorelai always did. After spending so much time with her, he was catching on to her stupid flaws. The stupid flaws that he loved so much. He got ready for work, and headed down to open the diner.

It was around 6:45 when Lorelai headed out the door to go to the Inn. She thought getting there extra early would be good because she wanted to get out a little earlier than usual. When she walked in, she saw Michel sitting at the front desk. He glared at her as she walked up to him.

"Miss me?"

"Oh, so you finally decide to show up. How considerate of you."

"I know, I am charming."

"No, your presence is bothering me. I'd rather you get away from me."

"Oh now honey, you know you love me."

She walked into the kitchen, and saw Sookie slaying over the stove.

"I have returned," she said immediately headed towards the coffee pot.

"Oh hey! How are you feeling?" Sookie asked sympathetically.

"Much better. We made up, and had a nice little talk, and...I think that things are going to be okay."

"That's great, really. I'm glad everything's okay."

"Hey Sookie, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can you give me instructions as to how to cook something...simple."

She stared at Lorelai blankly. "What?"

"I want to make Luke dinner tonight."

"Oh sweetie, I don't think that's a good idea."

"I said something simple."

"Lorelai, you might hurt yourself."

"Hey! I'm completely capable of trying. And if I burn something...I'll put ice on it."

"Uhh, ok...well I'll get something together for you."

"Thanks Sook! I'll be in the front pestering Michel if you need me!"

Right before Lorelai was getting ready to leave Sookie came up to her with a piece of paper.

"Okay! I know you've been in an Italian funk lately, so I'm...giving...you...instructions to make...spaghetti." She said between long pauses.

Lorelai glanced over at the picture-diagramed paper and nodded her head accordingly. "Looks easy enough. What's that thing though?" She said pointing to a picture.

"Oh, that's the strainer. You put the noodles in there after they are done cooking."

"I don't think I have one of those stringers."

"Strainer, Lorelai...strainer. Here come into the kitchen I'll give you some things you might need."

When Lorelai was finally ready to leave, it was almost 6. 'Gosh, it's already so late.' She thought. She took the bags of supplies that Sookie gave her and carelessly tossed them in the passenger seat. She took out her cell phone and stared to head home.

"Luke's."

"Hey it's me–ahh, damnit! Learn how to drive, grandpa!" Luke heard her scream and honk the horn.

"You okay?"

"Yeah just a touch of road rage. Anyways, you coming over tonight?"

"Uh, well I got your note."

"Good, so come over...say about 7:30?"

"Lorelai, I don't think this is a good idea. Really."

"What? You don't want to spend time with me?" She said pretending to sound sad.

"No, it's not that. It's just...I don't want to get food poisoning or anything."

She rolled her eyes and sighed loudly into the phone. "Hey, listen to me. When we're an old married couple, don't yell at me because you have to cook 24/7. Now you think about what you just said, and I'll see you at 7:30." She quickly said and hung up on him.

Luke stared quizzically at the phone and hung it up, shaking his head. 'She's crazy.'

At 7:30, Luke rang the bell. Lorelai quickly ran to the front door and walked back into the kitchen, not saying anything.

"Uhh, hi."

"Oh, hey. Sorry," she said reaching to a pot and stirring the contents inside of it. She turned around and gave him a light kiss that ended with Luke laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"You. It looks like something just blew up on you."

She rolled her eyes and glanced down at her attire. She was wearing a white tee-shirt, that was now covered in tomato sauce. And her sweat pants had the same matching effect. Her hair was tossed up in a sloppy pony tail, and she had a little bit of tomato sauce smeared on her nose.

"Hey, nobody said cooking was easy."

"Yeah, well...for Lorelai Gilmore it isn't. How's it coming along?"

"Perfectly fine, thank you for asking."

"No, I'm just concerned."

"Go do something useful, like...make the table or something. Just get out of my way!" She said shooing him away.

When dinner was ready, they sat down at the table and Luke studied his plate intimately.

"What are you doing?" She asked offended.

"I'm uh, just making sure this stuff is edible."

She shoved a forkful of spaghetti in her mouth and smiled largely while chewing. She wiped her mouth and after swallowing a look of disgust appeared across her face.

"Oh my God, that's horrible." She threw her fork down and tossed her napkin on the plate. "Don't even try it."

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Here, I'll just make burgers. Do you have ground beef?"

She looked puzzled. "What the hell is that?"

"What burgers are made out of."

"I always thought they were just served in the shape of a burger."

"I take that as a no..." he said rolling his eyes and closing the refrigerator.

There were several frozen pizza's in the freezer and after much begging, she finally got Luke to make one. When it was done cooking, Lorelai dug right in where as Luke very apprehensively took a piece and ate it slower than ever. When there were done in the kitchen, they headed to the living room.

"Well, that was good! And very successful, might I add. I told you I could cook something." She flopped down onto the couch.

"Uh yeah...hey listen I want to propose something."

"Of course Luke, I'll marry you."

"Yeah, right...anyways, this weekend, I was thinking that we should go camping."

When Lorelai was done laughing, she finally looked at him, seriously. "With who? You and your good cooking, nature loving imaginary girlfriend?"

"No with you." He said simply.

She stared at him, amused. "Oh my...you're serious...aren't you?"

"Obviously."

"I mean, I don't know if that's the best idea. Do you think I could bring my blow drier?"

"You can't be serious."

"Uh, I am."

"And where do you think you'll be plugging in that hair drier?"

"To the same outlet that's plugging in my cell phone charger, and laptop."

"Lorelai we can't bring that stuff. There's no where to plug it in."

She sat there for a few minutes thinking about what it'd be like to go camping with Luke. The words sexy, scary, and stupid all flashed through her mind.

"If you really want me to. Just make sure you're ready for 24 hours of nagging and complaining. Wait, what are we going to eat?"

"Food."

"From where? Is there a Jewel _semi-_close by?"

Luke couldn't help but laugh. This girl is so clueless, and so different than him. 'Opposites attract' he said to himself.

"Let's leave on Friday. That way you can get out of dinner. We'll stay...I don't know, until Sunday."

"Ah, yes. Telling Emily Gilmore that her daughters going camping. I don't think she's ever smiled so large." She joked.

"So it's a plan. Friday it is."

"Are you sure you can get away from the diner?"

"Lorelai, other people do work there, ya know."

"Okay, okay."

"Well, I better get going. I have to close up, I told Caesar he could leave early tonight."

"Fine. Be that way." She said folding her arms across her chest, and pouting.

He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"You better hope so."

As soon as she heard the door slam, she ran to the phone, laughing hysterically.

"Hello?"

"You'll never believe what I'm doing this weekend." She said laughing so hard it was hard to say.

"Mom? Is that you?"

"Of course it's me. Who else do you think's calling? You're real, loving, smart and sophisticated mother, Laura Gilmore? Guess again. So do you want to know what I'm doing this weekend?"

"I guess I have no choice..."

"I...Lorelai Gilmore, am going...camping."

"Oh mom, that's not a good idea. Please tell me you're joking."

Up Next: Preparing For A Change

A/N: Yes, I know a little random..._but_ I do need a little something intresting to happen! Let me know what you guys think! Feedback is always appreciated! :o) Much love


	17. Preparing For a Change

Authors Note: The story is _almost _done, well, four more chapters, and I'm sorry this isn't the camping chapter, but the next one is. Thanks for the reviews everybody...I promise to be more exact when the story is over, and just to let you know, I've already started a new story, called Punch Drunk Love-thanks for the title movie people, lol.

Here's a little teaser: _He always wanted to admit his feelings. Just not this way. But with her. Anyway would work._ (Think about the title, all you smart people!)

Thanks for all the reviews, keep em coming please!! Feedback is the best, besides you guys of course! :o) Enjoy the chapter...

Just a Reminder: I don't like the word disclaimer. But hey, either way I say it, there not mine.

Chapter Seventeen: Preparing For a Change

While driving to the Dragonfly, Lorelai quickly analyzed her life. Things had been great before she messed up with Max. And then, things were miserable. But now, everything seems to be so much better, and richer. Everything count's more and everybody's happier. Rory is hopefully working out her problems, her parent's are great, the Dragonfly is great, and Luke is great. 'Life is good.' Except for one little thing.

"Sookie!" Lorelai called when walking into the kitchen.

Sookie looked over and gave her a half smile, trying to seem somewhat cheery. "Oh hey, how are you?"

"I'm...okay. How are you?"

"Tired. I need a break."

"Good. Let's get out of here for a little bit."

Michel had just walked in and gave Lorelai a dirty look. "You just got here. And, oh look, I think the clock say's that you are late."

"Come on Michel. I need to talk to Sookie. We'll be back soon. It's not like it's that busy right now. Lighten up."

"I think I'm brighter than ever. On the other hand, Sookie needs to lighten up."

"What? No breakfast for Michel this morning?" Lorelai asked.

Sookie shook her head, grabbed two disposable cups and filled them each with coffee. They walked outside and drove over to the gazebo. It didn't matter where they were, but Lorelai wanted to talk to her. As they sat down in an awkward silence, Lorelai glanced over at the diner and saw a sheer image of Luke. She couldn't help but smile. She glanced over at Sookie who didn't look to happy.

"What's the matter?"

Sookie sighed and thought to herself for a few moments. "Oh nothing...I'm just...I don't know. I haven't been acting the same."

"What do you mean?"

"For one, I get no sleep. Davey is always crying at night, and I always want to let Jackson get as much sleep as he can, but he always insists on taking care of him in the middle of the night. I'm already up though, so I just stay up, and can't find myself to fall back asleep. And Jackson and I haven't gotten to spend much time together, and well...we haven't gotten to spend a lot of time together either."  
  
Lorelai interpreted Sookie's facial expression. It's as if she was, sad...and even a little mad. But that's why Lorelai wanted to go out and talk with her for a bit, because they haven't been talking lately. Everyone and everything has been so busy.

"I know, Sookie. And I'm sorry. We've both been crazy with the Inn, and you have Davey, and I have Luke, who of course in no way replaces you. That's why I wanted to come talk to you for a little while. Check up on things, and see how you have been. I've missed you lately. It's like we haven't talked in a million years. And it's not like this conversation will make up for anything, but we're partners in this business, so of course we have to talk. But we're more than that, we're also best friends." There was an awkward silence. "I'm sorry Sookie. I'm sorry if it seems like I've been ignoring you lately."

"Oh that's not it, Lorelai. I know we've both been a little out of place. So how is Luke?"

Lorelai had to smile. "He's..._great_." She emphasized great a lot.

"I'm glad, sweetie. You deserve to be happy."

"Thanks. It's just, after I messed things up with the whole Max thing, I never thought that he could trust me or even want to be with me again. I was to say the least bit, surprised he forgave me."

"Oh honey, you could get married and have children with another guy and he'd still forgive you. He loves you so much. Everybody know's that, and you should too."

"Well, I'm glad for the future reference. But, I'm not planning on getting married to somebody else."

"Have you thought about marrying Luke?"

Lorelai thought for a bit. Going over the scenario. "Have I thought about it? Yes. Do I think he's going to propose? Not anytime soon. And I know this may sound really corny, but...I think he's the one. And by him being the one, I don't have to rush things with him. It could be years before we get married, but that's okay. Because I know he'll always be with me. It's just...this feeling. Ya know?"

"I know exactly what you mean. That's the way I felt on my second date with Jackson."

"Yeah, there's just something about Luke that set's himself apart from the rest of the guys that I've dated. I think that the whole 8 years of waiting had something to do with it."

"That's good to hear."

"Ooh, guess what! I'm going camping tomorrow. Can you believe that?"

"Why on earth would you go camping?"  
  
"I don't know, Luke asked me if I wanted to and of course at first I said no, but then I thought it might be fun. It's not like I'm going to do anything he wants me too, but still. I can annoy him. It'll be fun."

As they talked for a little longer, catching up on things, they headed back to the Inn. The day had been short and boring. Luckily, Lorelai got to leave around 2:30 and headed straight to the mall. She had to check out a store that's specifically for camping and the outdoors. Lorelai had never stepped foot in there, so it took her a long time to find everything she needed. She got herself some necessities for staying in the woods for 2 days, and then she just got clothes that she thought would be cute to get. Around 4, she headed over to Luke's bringing in every single bag with her.

There were only a few people in the diner so Lorelai took the liberty of putting all her bags on two separate tables. As Luke walked out from the kitchen his eyes widened. He looked back and forth between the bags, and Lorelai who was smiling largely.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Now what makes you think that!"

"Lorelai, what are in all of those bags?"

"Isn't it obvious. The bags say, "The Great Outdoors" in big bold letters, babe. It's obviously the stuff for our camping trip tomorrow."

"Lorelai, we're going for 2 days. Not 2 years. How many things could you have gotten?"

"Well, I got us both everything we needed. But I have to go, so come by tonight. Bring your stuff and we'll just leave in the morning. Oh and by the way, the other people are going to be so jealous of us."

"What other people are you talking about."

"Ya know, the people that's cabins are near are's. Maybe we can have some like big bonding fire, where we can all eat s'mores. Yummmm."

"What cabin do you think we're staying in?"

"Luke. You're joking right? Why else would I agree to come if I didn't know we were going to be staying in a cabin. Where on earth are we going to be staying?"

"In a tent."

"What? I'm not staying in a tent. There will be coyotes and bears and skunks."

"Skunks?"  
  
"I don't know. I guess so. Who's going to protect me?" She said pouting slightly.

"Good question."

She walked over and smacked him playfully, but not too quickly pulling him into a hug afterwards.

"I will." He whispered in her ear.

She pulled back and kissed him. Letting her tongue explore, she quickly got shivers. Kissing Luke felt like a first kiss, every time. That was one of the special parts about them. Nothing felt old. She pulled away and leaned into his ear.

"I love you." She whispered.

He kissed her forehead, and looked deeply into her eyes. "I love you too."

When she got home, she ran to the phone and dialed Rory's cell phone.

"Hello?"

"This is the police. We have your mother, Lorelai Gilmore in the Stars Hollow Police Station and we need you to come bail her out."

"How are you mom?"

"Bored. How are you?"

"I'm great! Things have been so fun mom. Really, we should come here together. Shopping... unbelievable. You just wait till you see me!"

"I can't wait to see you! Just what...8 more days!"

"Yeah, I hate to say it but I'm ready to come home. I mean, as much fun as I'm having, I really miss you, and I have to talk to a few people."

"Well enjoy it while you are there. Have you worked things out with Dean? Have you even talked to him yet?"

"I wrote him a letter, and I sent it out yesterday but I told him to send anything back to the house, so he might respond, I don't know. He called me once, but I didn't answer, and he left a message saying that we should talk about things, but I really don't want to talk to him because I'm afraid of what he'll say."

"Rory, do you love him?"

"No. I realized that I don't, mom. And that it was wrong for me to sleep with him, for all the wrong reasons. And I'm scared that he's going to tell me he loves me, and then I'm going to hurt him even more than he already is...with Lindsay and all. So I think it's best if we kept away from eachother for a while. But enough about Dean, I'm getting a headache. When are you leaving for the cabin?"

"Uhm, get this. We're staying in a tent."

"Ha-ha-ha, you've gotta be joking."

"Nope. The only joke is me going camping. I still can't believe we're going to do this. We leave tomorrow though. Luke should be over in a little bit with his stuff, and he wants to leave early tomorrow morning."

"Oh, well...you guys have fun. Call me if you even have connection out in uh...wherever you are. Speaking of which where is this camp site?"

"I have no idea, past Litchfield though...it's in it's own little corner of the world. It's like an hour away or something."

"Okay, we'll, don't die. And...stay healthy...and tell Luke I say hi, and good luck!"

"Goodbye Rory."

"Bye mom!"

Lorelai spent the rest of the night packing and getting ready to go on their little getaway. There was one last thing she had to do though...

"Hello?"

"Hello mom."

"Lorelai? Oh how are you?"

"I'm really wishing that I didn't eat that last piece of pizza, but life goes on. And yourself?"

"Yet another thing I can't relate too. Everything's wonderful. Why are you calling? Is something wrong?"

"Nothings wrong, I just had to ask you a favor. Well, sort of a favor. It's not like your saving me from anything, but I guess technically it is a favor because I'm asking you to let me out of something that I shouldn't be let out of but..."

"Lorelai, what is the point of this pitiful story?"

"Well, Luke and I are going camping tomorrow...which means I won't be able to come to dinner."

"You're going to have to come up with a better excuse than that, my girl."

"No mom, I really am going camping." She said seriously.

Emily started to laugh into the phone. "Why on god's earth would _you_ go camping?"

"Goodbye mom. I'll call you when I get home!" Lorelai said quickly.

"Just this once, Lorelai. We'll see you when you return."

As soon as she hung up, Luke walked in the front door holding one little duffle bag. Eyeing him suspiciously, Lorelai started walking outside the door. Luke put down his bag, and followed after her.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I'm going to get the rest of your things from the car."

"This is all I have."

"Men." Lorelai grunted.

She walked over to the swing on the porch, and took a seat. Luke sat down next to her and she cuddled against him. Turning her head and looking up, she began kissing him.

"Hi." She said quietly.

"Hi...are you ready for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I have a lot more bags than you do, though!"

"I'm scared to find out how many more..."

"Come see." She took his hand and they walked back into the house, stepping into the kitchen where Lorelai had 3 medium sized bags sitting on the floor.

"Lorelai!"

Pouting, she walked in back of him and put her arms around his waist. "What? I have a lot of things."

"You're crazy, you know that?"

"Thank you. I talked to Rory today, she said hi and good luck."

"With what?"

"Me!"

"Oh right...well, when is she coming home?"

"Week from tomorrow. I'm so excited she's coming home. I'm kinda getting sick of spending all my time with you."

"Glad that the feelings mutual."

"Hey! You're not supposed to say that!"

"Yeah, whatever, let's eat something."

"Fine, cook me something good my little chef."

"I'm not your little chef."  
  
"Cook me something good my big chef. Better?"

Luke sighed and stared blankly at Lorelai. "There's no point in even trying anymore."

They cooked dinner, and ate at the kitchen table, talking about what Lorelai had gotten at the store. She got up and excitingly went through one of her bags and pulled out 2 shirts.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but these are both for me. I didn't think you would want a shirt, but...if you do...we could always go back tomorrow before we leave."

"I think I'll live."

"Okay, so this is the first one." She held up a dark green tee-shirt that said 'ITS BETTER IN THE WOODS' in brown.

"Dirty!" Luke said sarcastically.

"Ah! You said dirty! So you really do love me. Okay, and this is the second one." She held up a grey tee-shirt that said 'UNDER THIS SHIRT IS THE WORLDS GREATEST FISHING GRANDFATHER' in black. Giggling a little, she turned to Luke who looked at her like the stupidest person on earth.

"Lorelai, you're not a grandfather. Let alone, you're not a man either...and to top it off, you don't fish."

"But Luke, it's cute!!"

"Whatever you say."

As they finished up dinner, they headed up to Lorelai's room so she could pack a few last minute things from the bathroom. Luke changed into his night wear and Lorelai changed into a small, slinky, black slip.

"Hello fisherman." She said seductively.

Luke began to look her over. 'God, she looks good.' He thought. 'When doesn't she?' She walked over to him and sat on the bed next to him.

"Cute jammies." She said sarcastically, pointing at his boring attire.

"Back atcha." He said slowly touching the small of her back.

She leaned in and kissed him deeply. Closing all spaces between him, he leaned back against the bed, and she leaned on top of him...enjoying there night before hell in the woods.

Up Next: It's Better In The Woods

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	18. Its Better In The Woods

Authors Note: Ahh guys! Sorry about the lack of updates!! Assuming there are still some readers out there! School started again...blah...it sucks. Here's the third to last chapter of the story! But as soon as this is done, I'm staring to post my other one. So, hopefully that will go over better. It's a different plot that we probably don't see a lot, so hopefully you'll all try and read it! Thanks to the reviewers--I love you guys all so much! Gilmore girls is on tonight so watch the frog 7 (depending where you live!) I can't wait for the premiere, just 2 more weeks, guys... THANKS FOR EVERYTHING SO FAR!

Just a Reminder: Not mine...yet. JK.

Chapter Eighteen: It's Better In The Woods

It was very early the next morning when the phone started to ring. Lorelai threw her pillow at the phone, but that didn't stop the cordless from ringing. After 4 more rings, and the person still not hanging up, she decided to answer it.

"Hello." She said in a muffled voice, from being disturbed in her sleep. She glanced over at the clock. 7:30. 'Who on earth would be calling at 7:30?'

"Hi, Ms. Gilmore? This is Dan from AT&T, and we were looking through your phone package and it seems that you could be getting a much better package with us, than SBC. Would you be interested in switching over to our plan for $10.00 less a month?"

Lorelai blinked a few times, and sighed before answering. "Dan...it's 7:30 in the morning. The only plan I want to be re-thinking right now is you ever calling me in the first place. Got it?"

"So does that mean you don't want to switch?"

"Yes Dan, that mean's I don't want to switch. Goodbye."

Lorelai moaned in anger as she saw Luke rolling around in the bed, beginning to open his eyes.

"What did he want you to switch?" He asked opening his eyes and looking at her.

"Boyfriends. But I said no."

"What time is it?"

"It's 7:30. Go back to sleep. Now."

As they both turned over and began to go back to sleep, the phone rang once again. Lorelai quickly reached over to the night stand and grabbed the phone.

"This better not be Dan."

"Lorelai?"

"What!" She practically screamed.

"Where are the reservations for the July file?"

"Michel?"

"Yes this is Michel. Who else would be calling you to find out where the reservation file for July is?"

"Somebody stupid who has no memory as to where we keep our reservations every month. Michel, we've been over this before. There in My Documents, and then click on the July folder. How many times have we been through this? That's right. Too many to count. Goodbye Michel."

Lorelai threw the phone over into the corner of the room with it making a slight crash as it hit the floor.

"What is it? Wake up Lorelai at the crack of dawn day? I think it's a sign. Get up, Luke. We're going camping!" She said non-amused.

"We don't have to leave yet."

"Get up, Luke! I'm up, so you're up. Go start the shower, I'll be there in a minute."

"This isn't like you. You'd never want to get up at 7:30, but fine."

Lorelai grabbed a change of clothes and followed Luke into the bathroom where they both took a shower. When they got out, they got dressed, and made their way down to the kitchen to grab something to eat before hitting the road.

"So, are you ready?" Luke asked.

"Yes, I guess. Let's just go before I change my mind about this whole thing."

"You're crabby this morning."

"Well, I had some annoying fellers call me this morning. Go figure."

They hit the road by 9:00. Lorelai was already fumbling through the radio and her CD's by the time they pulled out of the driveway. They spent the whole car ride talking, and listening to music. Lorelai fell asleep for a little while, and before she knew it, they were pulling into their designated camp site by 10:15. They unloaded their bags and set them on the ground with everything else. The first thing they did was set up the tent which took a lot longer than planned. Lorelai wasn't the most flexible person, you could say.

"Few! We're finally done with that!" She screeched in excitement.

"Yeah...now what?"

"I don't know. You tell me. You're the one who wanted to come here in the first place."

"I mean, we have a lot of things to do. Just what do you want to do first?"

Lorelai wiped her forehead. The sun was beaming down on a hot day for the end of June. She glanced over at her bags that had some clothes poking out, one thing being her bathing suit.

"Let's go swimming."

"I don't swim."

"Well too bad, we're going swimming."

After a few minutes of begging, Lorelai got Luke to agree to go swimming with her as long as she had to go fishing with him. They changed into their bathing suits, and took a walk over to the water.

"You should wear a bathing suit more often." She said.

"Yeah, so should you."

"Oh, now let's not get dirty."

"Believe me, I'm not trying."

As they walked up to the edge of the water, Lorelai quickly ran right it. She had been extra hot, and there was nothing stopping her. She turned to see that Luke was hesitantly placing his feet at the edge, hardly feeling any water.

"What are you doing? Get in here!"

She stood up, and began walking back towards him. She grabbed his hands and with all her strength- which was a lot, for she is very weak- pulled him into the water with her. They walked far into the water, until they were both covered with water past their chests. Lorelai threw her arms over his shoulders and began to fiercely kiss him. Pushing him backwards, they walked over to the side. She smiled through the kiss and began playing with his hands until he went underneath the water and picked her up from her hips and through her over his head, in back of her. While screaming in the air, she finally fell down and all you heard was a huge splash. When she got back up, she glared at Luke.

"You really shouldn't have done that."

After spending nearly 30 minutes together in the water, pushing eachother around, and throwing eachother across the water, they decided to head back to the camp site. They made something to eat, and sat down in their tent for a little while. The day had been early, but they were both very tired from getting up so early. They lied next to eachother in the tent on each of their sleeping bags and before you they knew it, they were both sound asleep. It hadn't been until the birds were having some type of celebration until they woke up.

"Could they be any louder?" Lorelai said, beginning to sit up and look over at Luke who was still sleeping. He looked like he was sleeping good, so Lorelai sat back down and quickly fell back asleep very close next to him without even looking at a watch.

When Lorelai got back up for a second time, she was so confused as to where she was. After taking a few minute to adjust to the scenery, she remembered exactly where she was. She glanced at Luke who was still sleeping. 'How could he still be sleeping? He can never sleep this much.' She leaned down and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Luke." She said quietly in a singsong voice.

He began to open his eyes and look around much like Lorelai did.

"What time is it?"

"Good question, I have no idea."

She looked over at her wrist but realized she wasn't wearing her watch because she took it off before they went swimming. She grabbed her purse and took out the watch that was sitting inside of it.

"Oh my God! It's 5:00! How could we have slept so long?"

"5:00? What time did we fall asleep!"

"I don't know. We finished lunch at about 12:15. I can't believe we slept for 4 hours and 45 minutes! I feel so...left out."

"Left out from what?"

"I don't know. We're only going to be here for two day's. I feel like we just wasted so much time."

"It's okay, we still have plenty of time. Let's get up and go take a walk or something."

They got up and took a nice long walk down a private path. The scenery was beautiful. The trees, and flowers along the path were an amazing site. They walked down the path hand in hand, quietly. Not talking about anything. When Lorelai got a little sick of walking, she decided to plump down on a patch of grass and played with the uncut pieces that tickled her legs when she sat. Luke sat down next to her and began playing with the grass as well.

"So, what should we do for the rest of the night?" She asked.

"Well, I was thinking that after this, when we're ready, we could make some dinner, and then it'd be really cool if we went fishing."

"But after dinner, it'll already be getting late. And then sun's going down already. It's not going to be light out."

"It's okay. That's the cool thing about it."

"Did Luke Danes really just say cool?"

He rolled his eyes, and looked over at her. "I have a vocabulary ya know. Unlike you..."

"Hey, my vocabulary is perfectly fine."

They spent a little longer talking in the grass, and headed back to the camp site. They both changed into fresh clothes for the second time today, and Luke cooked some food on the little portable grill that he had brought along. The sun was already setting, and casting many colors in the sky and along the rims of the trees. The sky had never looked so pretty to either of them before. Before eating, they took a seat together and watched the sunset. When it had completely gone down, to their view at least, they went back to their food and stared eating.

"What time is it?"

Luke glanced over to his watch. "About 6:15."

"Boy the sun sure does set early over here. It's pretty though. I can't complain there."

"No, you can't."

As they ate there dinner, and cleaned everything up, Luke was ready to go fishing.

"Not so fast, mister."

"What?"

"S'mores."

"Lorelai..."

"No, if we're going to go fishing, I need to have a dose of something sweet."

"What, I'm not sweet enough?"

"Oh please tell me you didn't just say that."

"Luckily I was kidding."

Lorelai made an overload of s'mores and ate them all by herself. When done with those, she went back into the tent and changed into her new shirt advertising the worlds greatest fishing grandfather. Not too long afterwards, they began to walk in the pitch blackness of the night. It was almost 8, but there was not one ounce of sunlight. They walked on a small trail, and headed towards a little river with a bridge over it, much like the one in Stars Hollow. They sat down at the edge of the bridge and got all their fishing materials ready. When ready, they began waiting for fish to appear on the end of their poles. When Lorelai felt something, she made sure everybody knew.

"I think I have something!" She screamed in excitement.

"God, could you be any louder? Okay, lean in, and try to wheel it in."

"Oh not this again." As she leaned in to pull the fish in, she lost her grip and fell straight into the river and screamed in horror.

"No!!!" She yelped splashing through the somewhat freezing cold water.

Luke couldn't help but laugh. It was more than funny. It was hilarious. Seeing Lorelai bend over and casually fall into the river without any advance notice but a huge splash! He watched her squirm in the water, trying to hold onto her fishing poll but it wasn't holding her up. She tried to grasp onto the edge of the bridge, but her wet hands slipped off the edge immediately. So her next instinct was to grab Luke's leg. As she reached over him, she thought it'd be more fun to pull him in with her. So with all her might, she latched onto him and pulled him into the water with him. He fell underneath immediately and when he got up, he shot Lorelai a look of anger.

"Why did you pull me in?"

"Well...I saw you laughing at me, and I thought you were thinking that I was having a wonderful time in here, and that you'd want to join me!" She said matter-of-factly.

They acted like little kids in the water. They were throwing eachother and splashing eachother like before, and yet again, we're making out in the water as if they were a couple of teenagers. Luke put their fishing polls on the bridge and they continued messing around in the water for a while.

"So...I guess I am the worlds greatest fishing Grandfather...yeah?"

"I'd say so."

"Hey, it's not like you caught anything."

"Well, you pulled me in here. I had no time."

"What can I say? I can't stand being away from you. Is that...bad?" She said innocently.

"Not at all." He leaned in and continued their previous kissing.

It seemed like they had been in the water forever but in reality it was only for about 30 minutes, which was still long. Lorelai's teeth started clicking, and she got goose bumps all over her body. She leaned in closer to Luke and struggled to hang on to him even though he wasn't standing either.

"I'm...freezing..."

"Let's get you out of here. Ready to head back to the tent?"

"Yeah...let's go change into some warm clothes and get underneath our sleeping bags and blankets and cuddle and talk cute to eachother."

"Uh...ok."

They walked back to the tent in silence, hand in hand, enjoying the beautiful night. They didn't have too much more time alone together. Rory would be coming home in about a week, and although Lorelai was thrilled to know that she's coming home soon...she still knew that things would have to slightly change for her and Luke. When they got to the tent, they took there time and slowly got dressed into there night clothes. They had two separate sleeping bags sitting next to eachother, and Lorelai looked them over curiously.

"Hmm..." She had a mysterious face on, as if she was about to do something. "I don't like these arrangements." She pleaded.

"What?"

She ignored his question and walked over to the sleeping bags. She began unzipping them both and laying them both down on the ground as if they were blankets.

"Much better." She nodded at her well done work.

"Why didn't you want to use them as sleeping bags?"

"Because then I couldn't be close to you!" She said latching onto his arm and smiling at him.

They adjusted comfortably on the ground and laid close to eachother. Lorelai rested her head slightly against his chest, and wrapped her arms around his stomach. He lightly kissed the top her head and played with her hands a little.

"I could get used to this." She stated.

"What?"

"Sharing the bed at night...waking up with somebody next to me...living with somebody permanently." She said quietly, not breaking any contact away from him.

"I could too."

"Have you ever thought about us...and...the future?" She asked hesitantly.

He thought the idea over for a moment. Of course he had...he always did, he always would. Ever since the first day he saw Lorelai, he thought about what it'd be like to be with her...forever.

"Of course. Have you?"

"Yeah...well Sookie and I were talking about it today so it was sort of on my mind...but I told her that there was no need to rush things...because I'll always be here for you, and you'll...always be here for...me. At least I hope so..."

"I will. I'll always be here for you, Lorelai. No matter what...I promise."

"Good."

They fell asleep peacefully.

"I can't believe I'm getting married today!" Lorelai screeched.

"I know it all happend so fast. Ready?"

Lorelai walked down the isle to a shining Luke. He looked so happy. This was the moment she had always dreamed of. The moment that he always dreamed of too. It was a dream come true.

"Lorelai! Lorelai! Get up, it's 11:00!" Luke said trying to push Lorelai around to wake her.

She sat up, confused. "Luke? We were just getting married, where am I now--"

She glanced at Luke who looked at her like she was an idiot. "What do you mean we were just getting married?" He asked.

"Oh, it must have been a dream. Never mind." She tried to through the image behind her but all the could picture was the beautiful dress she was wearing in her dream. White, with a little lace in the front, and a criss-cross back. The image of Luke smiling at her when she began to walk down the isle, and the image of everybody in the crowd smiling, and ooing, and awwing.

"Huh." She said quietly to herself as she began to look for some clothes through her bags.

Luke looked over at her, "what?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking." She flashed him a smile, but the thoughts were still in her head. It seemed to realistic. 'It was just a dream though' she thought over in her head. 'Just a dream.'

Up Next: Tying Loose Ends

Review, please?! Pretty pretty please with sugar on top! lol, i luv you guys.


	19. Tying Loose Ends

Authors Note: Sorry about the lack of updating. Here's chapter 19 for ya. Thank's guys for the reviews! Keep doing it, it's almost overrr!! Lol, anyways...this chapter has a lot of closure in it and unanwsered questions you guys might have. A little more outside action. The next, and final chapter will be submitted soon! I promise--maybe next Tuesday in respect of the SEASON PREMIERE!!!!!! (is anybody else crazy excited?!?!?!) Or I'll update sooner just cause I'd do that for ya! Thanks guys! Enjoy--

Just a Reminder: Okay, not mine. Won't ever be.

Check Out: I uploaded a new one-shot story, 'Luke Most Certainly Can Waltz.' It takes place during Liz's wedding! RR if you'd like!

Chapter Nineteen: Tying Loose Ends

As Lorelai got ready for the day ahead of themselves, her dream flashbacks kept reoccurring. 'Why am I making this such a big deal? I don't want to be married now. I love the way things are. Exactly, I love them the way they are now. That's all.'

They spent the whole day doing various, camp related activities. They attempted to go fishing again, but that didn't last too long. They swam, ate lunch, took another walk, and Lorelai forced Luke to watch her start a fire. After taking a small nap, and getting up towards 5, Lorelai was suddenly bored.

"I'm bored. This place is getting boring. What else can we do?"

"I don't know, what do you want to do?"

"Watch TV, or call Rory. Either or."

"'What do you want to do here?" Luke corrected himself.

"Oh, in that case...I don't know. Exactly my point...what else is left to do? Ah, I know." She leaned over and began kissing Luke.

They entertained themselves for a while, and ended up making dinner a little early. When everything was cleaned up, and put away, they went back into the tent. It was already time for the sun to set. Lorelai dragged Luke out there and they laid down together and watched the sunset for the second time.

"It's so beautiful." Lorelai said quietly.

Luke nodded his head in agreement. Moments like this, Lorelai analyzed to the fullest. When she was Luke...doing things like this...everything seemed perfect. She never wanted to move. It was a completely new feeling to her.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Everything. This past month has been so great. I've never been so happy before."

Luke had to smile. It's not everyday that somebody got to be with someone as special as Lorelai. But he had to quickly overlook his last month. He has always wanted Lorelai. Ever since the first day he met her, despite her sheer annoyance. He realized, that after all this time, he finally had her. Of course, he realized that before, but now, he was really realizing it. He doesn't just have Lorelai. He _has_ Lorelai. And she is the one person capable of making him as happy as he is now. The one person, and the only person.

"Really, I should thank you."

"Why?"

Luke took the moment to reposition himself. Lorelai was laying flat on her back on the ground, and Luke rolled over so that he was on his stomach. He placed one arm over Lorelai's stomach and propped himself slightly up, only inches away from her face.

"For giving me a chance."

"I had no reason not too."

"I'm just saying. I've always loved you Lorelai, and...I'm glad that we finally admitted our feelings to eachother. Or else, I would never have gotten the chance to be so happy." He leaned down and kissed her quickly.

"I am too."

The rest of the night was special. There were only a few selects days in their relationship where they got caught, 'in the moment' and these past few day's have certainly been like that.

The next morning, they got their things together and headed home by about 11. They stopped at a little diner on the way home.

"This is nothing like your diner."

He just smiled.

They got home by 12:45. Luke took Lorelai home and he headed back to the diner to see how things were going. She spent the first part of her time home, unpacking. Sort of. She took everything out of her bags and threw them in a huge pile at the foot of her bed.

"Mmm! Fun!"

She dived into the pile of clothes.

"Eww!" She pulled away quickly at the smell of the dirty clothes. It was just then when the phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Lorelai? Oh good, you are home. We had no idea when you were coming home. So we have been calling you."

"Mom?"

"Yes, who else would this be?"

"I don't know, I was hoping to hear from Rory's parol officer, but hey-It's nice to hear from you. What's up?"

"Lorelai, do you think that is funny?"

"Why are you calling me mom?"

"Your father and I would like you to come to dinner tomorrow night. We'd like to talk to you."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes. Everything is fine. Come by at around 6, okay?"

"Uh..okay."

* * *

"So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?" 

"Well, Rory..I've been thinking. We haven't spent much time, out in Chicago. I think we should go to a club or something."

"A club? Lane, what on earth possessed you to say such a thing. Since when are we club girls?"

"We're not. Which is exactly my point. Let's step out of the shell. Let's be...spontaneous."

"And how do you think we can get in this club?"

"It's 18 and older."

"I don't know...Lane...I'm not much for one to sit in a stinky place with smoking and drinking...and..."

"Come on Rory! Let's live a little!"

"Well, I guess..." She said giving in.

* * *

Lorelai went down to throw her clothes in the dryer. She past through the living room and saw the mailman. 'Ah, the mail. It's been a while.' She walked outside and gathered all the mail from the mailbox. It seemed like there was weeks worth of mail, when in reality it was only two days. She sat down at the kitchen table, and started flipping through it, to see what was actually interesting. 

"Bills, bills, bills, modeling agencies? Poetry winner? Bills, bills, ooh! Cute dress! Cosmo, bills...whaaat?" She said in a slow confused voice. She looked at the envelope labeled to a Ms. Lorelai Gilmore. She recognized the handwriting from the second she saw it, but quickly glanced to the left corner to see the return address.

"Christopher Hayden." She said to herself, shaking her head in denial. "What now?" As she quickly tried to open the letter without ripping it, although she wouldn't mind if she just 'accidently' did rip it, she found herself nervous. 'What does he have to tell me now? He got another woman knocked up?' Hi, Lorelai...it's your ex-love. I just wanted to let you know, I've hit up girl number 3! We're having a boy, and once we name him, hasta la vista Christopher! I'm coming back to find you!' She sighed. 'Yeah...right.'

_Dear Lorelai,  
Do you remember the time we slept outside on the balcony at your house? We had the telescope out that night, looking around the block, when we decided to lie down on the cold cement for a few minutes. We had just made up that night over a fight about me not calling you one night, and you told me that you'd always my be my friend, no matter what type of fight we got in. And last night, I was sitting in my new apartment thinking, I hope those circumstances still stand. I hope she still considers me a friend.  
I called Rory about a week ago. So she's in Chicago? That must be nice for her. Taking a little vacation never hurts. We talked about what happend with you and I. She said that I really upset you, and caused some drama with you and Luke. Lorelai- I didn't know that you were with Luke. And although that's no excuse for what I did, I still think that it would have held me back, that much more, if I knew you were with him. And in no way am I writing you this letter to confront you that it's your fault, because it's most certainly not, but still-why didn't you let me know? If it was a timing thing, then I understand exactly, but if it was something else, I want do know what.  
It was completely immature and wrong of me to act the way I did with you. I'm sorry that I hurt you, and caused havoc in the lovely Lorelai Gilmore's love life. I meant no harm, really. But I spoke from my heart, and I just wanted to be honest. I wanted you to know that after all this time, you have always been the one that I want. You have always been the one that I love, and now, I understand that the feeling isn't mutual. It's just that after we were planning on spending our lives together, before we knew Sherry was pregnant, I thought that you still might be lingering on to some feelings about us, but I see I am wrong. That was my last attempt to start something with you, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything, every fight, every argument, and every time I messed up. I know I was never around in the past, when you needed me most, and I know I'm not their now, which will be okay, but I wanted to let you know, that in the end, I always loved you more than anyone. You will always be in my heart, Lorelai, and I'm sorry for all the problems I have caused you.  
I love you,  
Christopher._

She re-read the letter twice, and stared at the text, analyzing everything he wrote. _'And last night, I was sitting in my new apartment thinking, I hope those circumstances still stand. I hope she still considers me a friend.'_ Of course she still was his friend, because like she said when she was sixteen, no matter what, she'd always be there for him. She'd always be his friend. But friends _do_ get mad at eachother....

_'But still-why didn't you let me know? If it was a timing thing, then I understand exactly, but if it was something else, I want do know what.'_ The thought crossed her mind after the fact. Why didn't she tell him? She still didn't know. Partially because it was a timing thing. It always seemed like the wrong moment, and the right moment just never occured. And partially, it was because she was scared. _'I'm almost scared to jinx it by talking about how good it's going.'_ The night that she went to Friday night dinner with Christopher, Rory, Straub, and Francine flashed through her mind. Those words echoed in her head about when Chris was telling Richard how good his business was doing. 'Liar.' She thought.

_'I'm sorry for everything, every fight, every argument, and every time I messed up.'_ She knew he was sorry...but it's too late now. Everything was in the past, and this was one of the countless mistakes that he made with them.

_'I love you, Christopher.'_ Saying I love you was a given. It was sort of like how whenever she saw Chris, she always gave him a hug and a kiss on the lips. It was something they just, did. Saying I love you was nothing knew. She knew he loved her, and she knew she loved him. Of course, she didn't have current feelings for him, but it was Christopher.

She folded the letter and placed it back into the envelope. She walked up to her room and shoved it in the bottom of her desk.

'Now I'm in a funk.' She thought. 'Coffee.' She walked over to Luke's.

* * *

"Rory! You're cell phone is ringing!"

"Ahh! Can you answer it for me? The curling iron is trying to attack me!" Rory screamed from the bathroom.

"Sure!" Lane called back.

"Hello?"

"Uh, Rory?"

"No this is Lane, who's this?"

"Oh, Lane. Hi. It's Dean."

Lane's stomach dropped. Rory had been in such a great mood lately, she didn't want to ruin it by telling her that Dean was on the phone. She walked over into the room of the hotel, and closed the door a little bit.

"Uh, Dean. Hi...uhm, Rory's actually not here right now. But you could try calling back later, okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah sure. Thanks, Lane. Bye."

She quickly hung up and erased all records of Dean calling. He'd call back later, after they had already had a fun night. 'Ah, not good timing.' She thought.

"Who was it?" Rory called when she heard Lane walk out of the bedroom.

"Oh, wrong number!" Lane said quickly, trying not to seem obvious.

"Ha! Funny. Did you mess with their minds?"

Lane tried to smile. "Uh, yeah, something like that! Come on let's get going soon!"

* * *

As soon as the bells rang above the door, Luke glanced up to see if it was Lorelai. And sure enough, it was. She looked furious for some reason. Like she had just talked to her parents.

"What's the matter?"

"Why do you automatically think that something is wrong?" She sat down at a stool and rested her head against the counter. She didn't want to tell him about the letter from Chris, but knew that it'd be good if she did.

"You're laying down on the counter, and you look like something is wrong. Oh, and you haven't asked for coffee yet."

"Coffee. Now."

"That's better." He walked over to grab the coffee pot and filled her up an oversized mug of coffee. She lifted the coffee to her face, and let the steam wander. She looked at Luke over the rim of the cup, just staring at him.

"Why are you staring at me?" She took a large sip, and put it down next to her and bounced around in her seat for a moment, trying to change moods.

"Okay! Better." She said happily.

"What was the matter, before?"

"Oh nothing. I'm just tired. My mom called...I have to go to dinner there tomorrow. They want to tell me something. And then, I did a load of laundry and I hate doing laundry. I was seriously thinking of going out and buying a whole new wardrobe. And then, I checked the mail and got a letter from Chris." She watched his face change. He didn't look sad, or mad, he just looked...tense. Worried...scared.

"Oh. What did he have to say?"

"Nothing special. Just that he talked to Rory and she told him that he really upset me, and caused some problems with you and I. He said he was sorry for everything. Nothing big."

"Oh..." Luke just watched Lorelai drink her coffee as if nothing ever happend. "Well, that's nice."

"Yeah. I guess. And I miss Rory." She reached in her purse and started to pull out her cell phone when Luke pointed to the 'no cell phones' sign. She grunted, and continued anyways. After about 5 rings, her voice mail finally picked up.

"Hey babe, it's me. I'm at Luke's right now. Bored. Are you bored? I'm bored. Do you know that it's possible to eat five donuts in less than a minute? It's so much fun too. Although you do get a stomach ache afterwards, it's worth the pain. Well, call me I guess. No windows still. Oh and just 6 day's. Love ya." She hung up and put her cell phone back in her purse and turned to smile at Luke.

"You're just weird. Do you want something?"

She grinned at him. "Mmm hmm."

"Do you want something to eat?"

"Oh. No, I'm going to go drop by the Inn. See how Sookie lived. Assuming she did. Come here." She nodded her head for him to come by her.

She gave him a kiss goodbye and drove over to the Inn and checked on Sookie and Michel. Things were fine over the weekend. Sookie got her hand stuck in the drain, Michel had to assist a group of french woman, but things were fine. As always. Afterwards, she went home and spent the night home, cleaning up, and reading magazines. Luke had to close, so he couldn't come by.

_

* * *

_

Rory and Lane were dancing together in this little club in Chicago, when Rory's cell phone rang. 

"Lane! I'm going to step outside, somebody's calling me!"

"Okay!" Lane didn't even bother to think it might be Dean.

Rory rushed outside before the ringing ended. "Hello?"

"Rory. Hi."

'Dean.' She thought. She talked to him once...very brief. She didn't know if she got his letter explaining that what happend was a mistake, and that she doesn't love him. It was a very forward, very harsh letter. Not harsh in the way of being mean, but honest.

"Hi."

"How are you?"

"Uh, I'm okay. How are you?"

"Uhm, I'm alright. How is Chicago?"

"It's fine. I'm coming home soon though. Which is good, I miss my mom." They were both acting as if nothing ever happend. If they were casual friends. And they both knew, they aren't. And they weren't going to be, anytime soon.

"That's good. So...I got your letter."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Listen Rory. I've been thinking about things lately. Things with me, things with us, things with Lindsay. And we're still getting a divorce."

"Oh."

"It doesn't have to do with you. I want you to know that. I told you that we weren't working before we...ya know..."

"Yeah." She said as quickly as possible.

"And I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"For what?" And although she knew for what, she wanted to hear it from him.

"For everything, Rory. I'll talk to you soon. Bye." And he hung up. Rory slowly hung up the phone and stared at it blankly. 'Okay.' She headed back to the club.

* * *

After work on Monday, Lorelai went straight over to Luke's before she had to go to her parents for dinner. She walked in, and saw Luke in the storage room. She took the liberty to walk back there, and surprise him. She walked up in back of him and through her hands over his eyes. 

"Hi Luke!" She said in a very, annoying, high pitched voice.

He took Lorelai's hands off and turned around to see her, kissing her hello.

"Hi." She said softly.

"Hi."

"So. I have to go to my parents tonight. Hopefully I'll be back by...I don't know...8? Can you come over?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you then."

She arrived to her parents right before 6. She used her key, today. Although her mom has threatened to take it away from her, because she uses it for 'non-emergencies' she still used it.

"Hello!" She called loudly through out the house. A maid showed up at the door and took her coat.

"You're parents are in the living room."

She walked over to the dining room, and before her parent's noticed her, she watched them for a minute. They were both sitting on the couch, laughing. They looked so happy. Things must be good.

"Hi guys." She said, revealing herself.

"Oh, Lorelai! Good you are here!" Emily called out.

"Ah yes, hello Lorelai!"

"The riddalin aint kickin' in yet, eh?"

"What was that Lorelai?" Emily asked.

"Oh, nothing."

"Lorelai, can I get you a drink?"

"Uh, sure, thanks dad. White wine's fine."

They sat around and talked about her camping trip and Rory's trip to Chicago until the maid called them in for dinner. As soon as dinner was served and Lorelai was half way into poking at the disgusting little bird sitting on her plate, she put her fork down and stared expectantly at her parents.

"Is something wrong?" Emily asked.

"Uh, no. Nothings wrong." She plastered on a fake smile. "I just want to know...why you called me to come over tonight. It's only Monday ya know."

Richard and Emily both put their forks down and exchanged smiles. Emily began first.

"We're leaving."

Lorelai looked confused. "Uh, where are you going?"

"We're going to Europe." Richard said.

"Oh, fun! For how long?"

"Well," Emily started, "we're leaving in two days. That's why we had to have you over. We're leaving on Wednesday, and we wont be coming back for three months."

Lorelai couldn't help but smile. She didn't have to see her parents for three months. As happy as they both were, she still hated to get nagged by there annoyance. "Three months? That's a long time. What are you going to do for three months?"

"Oh plenty. Lorelai, there's lots to do, and see in Europe."

"I know dad, but three months seems like a long time. I'm just saying..."

"Yes." Emily looked over and smiled at Richard. "Three months."

'Okay, things are just freaky between them.' Lorelai thought. 'Thank God they're leaving though.'

They finished the night up...peacefully. She said goodbye to her parents, wished them luck with everything, left with a smile.

"It's over! For three months, it's over!" She screamed outside.

That night Luke came over. They watched a movie, and fell asleep together on the couch. That's how things had been going lately. They spent the whole rest of the week together, enjoying there time together while they could, because before Lorelai knew it, Rory was coming home tomorrow.

Up Next: Back in the Hollow, again.

Authors Note: So...let's see...a bit of this chapter was OOC. I didn't know how, or what Chris would right, but I tried my hardest! Haha, I hope you guys liked that chapter...the final chapter will be posted soon!

RR please!!


	20. Back In The Hollow, Again

**Disclaimer:** Here's to ASP's brilliant ideas.

**AUTHORS NOTE!:** Here it is you guys!! The last, and final chapter!! I hope you guys all had as good of a time reading it as I did writing it. I owe my thanks to a lot of special people! My reviewers are the best, and I wouldn't have done most of it w/o your guys input! So here's a special thank you to all those reviewers-whether you reviewed it once or ten times, you guys really are awesome!: **Gilmoregirl1979, faith5x5, Moonlight01, Julians Angel, Muse-of-the-Faires, Danagabrielle, Amefinch, Irish-Surf-Chick, Only-Soup-Cans-Need-Lables, Jaymek, Lauren9, TGR, RedHairIsTrouble, Xenanaut, Bambi-Cat, Spuffyluvr, and my two constant reviewers:  
lorelaivictoriadanes-thank's for always reviewing!! I really appreciate it!  
and...  
Maria G-thanks for all you're great reviews! ecspecially the last one! you are awesome and thanks for reading my other stories also! i appreciate it so much!**

Here it goes...enjoy!!!

(And thanks again to my kick-ass reviewers! I love you!)

* * *

Chapter Twenty: Back in the Hollow, Again.

On Saturday morning, Lorelai woke up with Luke next to her, in her bed. It was almost 10, and he wasn't opening. Lately, they had been sleeping in so late. Which was very unusual for Luke, but never for Lorelai.

"Get up." He said, trying to shake her awake.

"No!! Stop!!" She yelled out at him.

She leaned over and slapped his hand that was trying to push her around.

"Ouch! Don't hit me!" He hissed.

"Well, don't wake me up."

"You're daughter is going to be home soon."

She quickly raised herself up, and a huge smile appeared across her face. "What time is it!"

"It's 10. She'll probably be home in 2 hours. You wanted to get the house ready for her."

"Yes, let's get goin, mister! You have to help me clean up. Oh...and, I want to organize her room a little. Clean it up, move some things around. Just...cause, ya know? I don't want her to come back, and be scared of her room or anything like that."

"Good idea."

They spent an hour and half working on the house. Lorelai cleaned up everything, with lots of Luke's help. They arranged some things in Rory's room, and Lorelai wrote out, "WELCOME HOME RORY," in donuts on the table. It took a lot of donuts, but without a doubt they would all get eaten.

Rory and Lane left yesterday, and were driving straight through. Rory dropped off Lane at her house, and drove down the familiar streets of Stars Hollow. The place that she left. The place that she loves. She pulled into her driveway at around 12:15. Lorelai and Luke were in the kitchen, Luke trying to pull Lorelai off of the donuts, and Lorelai trying to fight the urge of eating them all, when suddenly, they heard a honk from outside. As quick as she can, she dropped a donut and ran straight out the front door, Luke following slowly behind her. Rory was just getting out of the car when her mom walked out of the door. They made eye contact that said 'I missed you. I'm so glad you are home.' Lorelai ran over to her and gave her a huge hug.

"Rory!!!!" She screamed in excitement.

"Mom!! I missed you!" They sat there jumping around like little girls for a few moments, when suddenly Luke walked out of the house, smiling at Rory. She caught his eye and returned the smile. She pulled away from her mom and walked over to him and surprised him with a hug.

"Luke!"

He returned the hug, and made eye contact, this time with Lorelai who was smiling at the two of them.

"Hey Rory! I'm glad you're home."

She pulled away but quickly leaned back in to whisper something in his ear. "Are you okay? Was she okay?"

He laughed a little and whispered back. "She's okay, but I'm glad you're back to take over."

"Hey! Secrets, secrets are not fun, secrets should be told to everyone or however that stupid rhyme goes." Lorelai called out to them. "Now, let go of her and come back here! I need to give you another hug."

Rory ran over to her mom and they sat there welcoming eachother for quite some time. Luke pulled all of Rory's bags in, as Lorelai and Rory sat on the swing on the porch and started talking about her trip.

"So, over all. Scale of 1 to 10. How much would you rather of been here with me?"

"10."

"10 being?"

"The most."

"Ah, that's my girl. But it sounds like you had fun."

"I did. I needed it."

"Yeah. So how are things going with...Dean." She said hesitantly.

"He called me."

"What did he say? I mean, if you want to talk about it."

"That he and Lindsay are still getting a divorce. And that it's not my fault. He knew they were going to get one anyways, before we...slept with eachother."

"Well, maybe it's better for them...but what about you guys."

"Nothing's going to happen. There really is no you guys because I don't love him, and as much as I'd love to be his friend, I don't think that can really work. In the back of our minds, we will always know what we did. And we'll know that what we did was wrong. Wronger than any other thing. And that not only was it wrong, but it was a mistake."

They spent the whole afternoon talking. It wasn't until about 5 that Rory wanted to lie down. She had been driving for 15 hours straight, with the exception of Lane driving, and she was tired. Not to mention that the hours of talking with her mother wore her out also. Right before Rory walked into her slightly changed room, Lorelai stopped her.

"I hope you don't mind. Luke and I are going to dinner tonight. I thought I'd give you the night to rest. We have much more catching up time though before you go back to school."

"That's fine. Don't worry."

They both walked into Rory's room. Her eyes lightened up at the changes. Not much was different though. It was cleaner, which not to say always was. The bed had new sheets and a comforter on it. She moved her desk and bed around, and she left her a journal on her desk. She opened it up and scimmed through the old pages that her mother used to write on. She turned to the first page, and began to read the entry.

_February 20, 1985_

_I love Rory so much. She's the greatest thing that ever happend to me. And of course, struggling to keep her healthy and safe at some points isn't always easy, but she's worth all the troubles. I'm going to raise her to be a smart, fun, loving kid. All the guys are going to want her. Ah- what am I talking about? She's only so young. More later. Lorelai._

Rory glanced over at her mom with tears in her eyes. Why did she want to give her this journal? She flipped over to the last page.

_June 30, 2004_

_I still love you so much. Just always remember that, okay? You are the greatest kid in the world. And I hope you had a great time in Chicago. I missed you tons, but...I got used to it. Luke did a good job of keeping control over me. I love you, kid. Mom._

She walked over to her mom and gave her a tight hug. "Thanks mom, I love you."

"I love you too, babe."

Rory took a long nap, while Lorelai was upstairs alone, getting ready to go out to dinner with Luke. They were going to an extremely fancy restaurant out in Hartford, where her parents had often dined. That had to say something about the place. Lorelai wore a dress, a blank, slinky knee length dress with a low-cut front. She mastered looking good in dresses like that. Luke wore a suit and a tie. Lorelai had given him proper instructions as to how to dress for this place. And although he wasn't thrilled, he didn't bother fighting with her.

At exactly 7, the doorbell rang. Lorelai walked down in her high heels, trying not to wake up Rory with the sound of her stomping. She opened the door and smiled faintly at how nice he looked. He did the same. She leaned in and kissed him deeply.

"You look wonderful." He said.

"I am beautiful, aren't I?" She said twirling around in her dress, Luke watched her closely. "Just kidding." She said taking back her comment.

"No, you are. Ready?"

They drove to the restaurant and after ordering her food, there was music playing and people dancing on the other side of the room. Lorelai looked over at all the happy couples dancing to the slow songs that they played. She caught Luke's eye, and shifted her's over the dancing, not to long after, casting them back at him, trying to send a hint. She smiled at him and winked.

"Please?"

He turned his head, and looked at the people dancing. He leaned his hand over the table and she placed her's tightly in his. They walked over and danced closer than ever. They did this twice, and afterwards sat back down and ate their dinner. When they were finished, they walked back over to the dance floor and danced to one more song.

She whispered quietly in his ear. "So, Rory's home."

"Yeah, she is."

"But things are going to be the same with us, right? I mean, you know you can always sleep over, and Rory is going back to college, so then you can really sleep over. I'll be lonely again."

"Yeah, well, is it okay, I mean...do you think she'd mind if I were over some nights? Or if you ever fell asleep at my place?"

"Not at all. She's one of our biggest fans, ya know. Besides Patty and Babette, that is. Oh and Sookie. But she's right up there."

"She's a great kid."

"Yeah, she is."

"You did a great job of raising her."

"Thank you." She said so quietly he could barely hear her.

After the song ended, they headed back home. They walked up the steps to Lorelai's door when Lorelai tripped, but pulled herself back together, trying not to laugh. They reached the top of the stairs and stood face to face in front of the door, Lorelai giggling slightly.

"You're crazy. You know that?"

"What can I say? I'm a Gilmore Girl."

Luke smiled, and she went to fix his crooked tie. "Ah, this is all messed up." She said fumbling with the collar of his shirt.

"Why are you doing this now? Why did I even have to wear one in the first place?"

"Because..." she smiled, "That's the romantic way to do this, damn it!"

He had to smile. The night of the test run flashed through his head. They both smiled.

She began to fix his tie again, but he began to move around.

"Will you just stand still?"

And they kissed. They re-enacted the night of the test run, yet again. They kissed passionately, just like the first time. No matter what, that's how things would always be. And that felt good. They both knew that there was something magical between them. Something always was, and something always would be.

* * *

**A/N: All Done!! I know that the last few lines were a repeat from the finale, but I meant to do that! Haha, thank you guys! Hope you enjoyed it--sorry this chapter was sort of short, but...what can I say!**

_"In this world, we're just beginning to understand the miracle of living. Baby, I was afraid before, I'm not afraid anymore. Oh baby, do you know what that's worth, oh Heaven is a place on Earth. They say Heaven...love comes first, we'll make Heaven a place on earth."-Belinda Carlisle, Heaven Is A Place On Earth._


End file.
